WIZARDS OF WISDOM

Forwarded from Shane

10 viewsLeo I am that I am, 02:24

Forwarded from Rosa Reine

Anna Kavanagh fb 13 feb 23

🚨Important Update🚨

Earlier this week we became aware of changes proposed in the proposed Planning & Development Bill. The Bill, as it currently stands, would do the following:

- Remove the definition of an allotment (note: community gardens were never defined).
- Remove the role of local authorities to reserve land for communities to grow vegetables or fruit.
- Remove the role of local authorities to promote, facilitate or control the provision of land for that use.

If passed under the current wording, the Bill will mean that all current 2500 allotments and community gardens provided by local authorities throughout Ireland will have no legal framework, and the role of local authorities in providing space or promoting or even facilitating use for communities to grow their own would be severely weakened. Communities ultimately would suffer as local authorities would have less obligation to help.

Upon discovering this we immediately got in contact with all members of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government & Heritage to outline how we are completely opposed to these changes.

Community Gardens Ireland presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government & Heritage in March 2022 on this exact point, and how increased protection is required rather than less: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_housing_local_government_and_heritage/2022-03-01/2/

We also highlighted that Ireland currently provides fewer community growing spaces than 100 years ago, along with providing far fewer spaces compared to other European countries: http://cgireland.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Community-Gardens-Ireland_Lets-Get-Growing.pdf

We received responses from a large number of the Oireachtas Committee members and we will be making a submission formally to the committee in the coming days. We will be seeking the committee members' support to put definitions & role of local authorities back in to the proposed Bill, but cannot do it alone.

Please contact your TD or Senator and highlight how you are opposed to the changes highlighted above in the proposed Bill. A draft email to change is detailed in the comments below.

Full link to the proposed bill is here: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/245627/be71aebe-a594-4b3c-bffb-89ddf8e1ed95.pdf#page=null

The current Planning & Development Act 2010 is here: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2010/act/30/enacted/en/print.html

Thank you!

Dónal McCormack
Chairperson Community Gardens Ireland

***

Dublin Community Growers Irish Seed Savers Association GIY Brown Envelope Seeds Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland Darragh O'Brien TD Kieran O'Donnell Malcolm Noonan T.D. Steven Matthews TD Paul McAuliffe TD Francis Noel Duffy TD Joe Flaherty Thomas Gould TD Emer Higgins T.D. Cian O'Callaghan T.D. Richard O'Donoghue TD Eoin Ó Broin TD @victor boyhan Senator John Cummins Mary Fitzpatrick Rebecca Moynihan Senator Mary Seery Kearney

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=6119307184799383&id=117572308306264

275 viewsLeo I am that I am, 11:01