The recent agreement by Laois County Council not to increase development charges for agricultural development is recognition of the importance of farming in Laois, the local IFA has said.
“We do welcome greatly the decision taken by Laois County Council to keep the development charges at the current level. It does reflect the fact that agriculture is such an important sector in county Laois,” Laois IFA chairman Francie Gorman said.
The IFA recently lobbied the council on the issue, as it had been proposed to increase development charges, which would have seen an average increase of €1,500 on the cost of building a shed.
The existing exemption of the first 500 metres had been proposed to be reduced to 200 metres, but this was not adopted.
“That would have been exceptionally high,” Mr Gorman said, particularly for smaller scale farmers.
The IFA felt the increased levy would have been counterproductive and would have been a deterrent to farmers building sheds etc on their farms.
Unanimous
The unanimous support received from the elected representatives, along with a good hearing from the executive management of the council, was welcomed by the IFA.
Equestrian buildings have now been brought into line with agriculture.
At the recent council meeting, Cllr Tom Mulhall stressed the importance of the equestrian industry in Laois.
“We are not Kildare or Tipperary but we have a number of pony clubs and a very active Laois Hunt,” he said.
He added there is a huge variance of land in Laois, from top quality land to some which is more suited to planting for forestry.
Initial proposals could have resulted in a cost of around €1,000 per stable, Cllr James Kelly said.
The decision to leave the levies for agriculture development untouched was welcomed by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley.
At the meeting it was agreed to reduce the development contribution for houses completed by 2019, from €4,000 to €2,000 in an effort to stimulate development in the county.
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