The National Roads Authority (NRA) has been strongly criticised by An Taisce for failing to lodge an appeal against a proposed development on the N7 in Co Kildare which has been refused on traffic safety grounds.
An Taisce was the only appellant against a decision by Kildare County Council to grant planning permission to RJ Goff for a petrol station, car-washing facility, five shops, two food outlets, a cafe and a 108-bedroom hotel beside the N7 at Kill, Co Kildare.
In its ruling on the appeal, An Bord Pleanála said the scheme would conflict with national policy "to control development fronting on to national roads and to preserve the carrying capacity and safety of such roads" as well as public investment in them.
The second reason given by the board was that the scheme would "endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of road users, because of the extra traffic movements generated by the development on to the very heavily trafficked N7".
Some years ago, Goffs was refused permission for a tourist retail outlet village on the site, which fronts the northbound carriageway of the N7, for the same reasons. The board said it would be "contrary to proper planning and sustainable development".
Following its latest ruling, An Taisce queried why the NRA had not chosen to "exercise its legal responsibility under the Planning Acts to appeal the county council decision to An Bord Pleanála, leaving An Taisce as the only body to do so".
In a statement, it said the growing number of permissions being granted by local authorities on national and regional roads "establishes large-scale failure to consider public safety and maintenance of the operational integrity of the roads system".
Though the NRA had intervened for the first time by taking an appeal to An Bord Pleanála on a case involving the N22 in Co Kerry in 2004 and in a number of other cases since, An Taisce said the authority was "still largely negligent" on the planning front.
It also criticised the Mid-East Regional Authority for not intervening "in any way" to protect national and regional roads in Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, even though this is an objective in the Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area (2004).
A spokesman for An Taisce said if "current lax planning" continued, the long-term cost in terms of accidents, traffic congestion and the need for further investment in national roads compromised by development "will be immeasurable".
Michael Egan, the NRA's corporate affairs director, took issue with An Taisce's statement that it was under a "legal obligation" to make appeals to An Bord Pleanála in cases where its views were ignored by a local authority.
"The NRA made its position quite clear in a submission to Kildare County Council in this case, but the council gave a decision that was to the contrary", Mr Egan said.
Asked why the NRA had not pursued an appeal, Mr Egan said it had "nothing else to say".
Under the 1993 Roads Act, the NRA is under a general duty to protect the safety of national, primary and secondary routes. Like An Taisce, it is also a "prescribed body" under the 2000 Planning Act.
For the first 11 years of its existence, the NRA did not exercise its right of appeal to An Bord Pleanála against local planning decisions in favour of developments fronting on to the national roads network.
