Sligo County Council members have unanimously voted in favour of a proposal, which has the effect of not providing access to lands in the Cairn's Hill area for possible future development purposes.

The council had heard that much of the land concerned was not suitable for development because of the archaeological importance of the area, and that therefore, there was no logic in pressing ahead with a proposed route, known as the T2.11, in the area.

A proposal to not support the Manager's recommendation to reinsert the T2.11 route into the Plan was adopted on the proposal of Clr. Declan Bree, seconded by Clr. Sean MacManus.

Clr. Bree said the County Manager was essentially asking the elected members of the council to do a U-turn with regard to the decision they made to delete the T2.11 Objective from the Draft Sligo and Environs Development Plan.

"Back in July, when we considered this matter, I proposed that the T2.11.Objective be deleted from the plan. Councillors deleted the objective because they recognised that the proposed new road would be higher than many existing houses on its proposed route and indeed would overlook many houses. Councillors also recognised that the proposed road would affect the quality of life of numerous long-established residents in the area.

"In addition, it was also recognised that the proposed road would significantly affect the visual amenity of the unique landscape of the Cairns Hill area," Clr. Bree said.

He added that Dr. Stefan Bergh from the Department of Archaeology at NUI Galway said at the time that the road would have a strong negative effect on the very sensitive archaeological landscape of Cairns Hill and Tullygracken North. Dr. Bergh pointed out that the proposed route was in direct contravention of the Development Plan's "archaeological heritage policies for the Coolera Peninsula. Clr. Bree said Dr. Bergh also pointed out that the council had refused planning permission along this route on grounds of the need to protect archaeological features.

The County Manager had indicated that the objective was to provide access to lands for development purposes.

"However recognising that much of the land is not suitable for development because of the archaeological importance of the area clearly there is no logic in pressing ahead with this proposed route. I believe that we should not support the Manager's recommendation to reinsert the T2.11 into the Plan," said Clr. Bree, who then proposed that councillors reject the County Manager's proposals.