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Farm building work has been hit by a spate of planning problems generated by environmental activists.
Three dairy farm planning applications have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by the well-known environmental campaigner Peter Sweetman, in association with Wild Ireland Defence.
Planning applications by a further 40 farmers nationwide have been the subject of formal observations from Sweetman, who previously came to national prominence for his forestry-related cases.
He has denied that his actions in relation to agricultural developments are anti-farmer.
Sweetman told the Irish Farmers Journal that his primary motivation was to ensure the proper enforcement of existing planning regulations.
However, the flood of observations has sparked fears that on-farm building work is now being actively targeted in the planning arena by environmentalists.
Tipperary-based agricultural planner Aidan Kelly claimed that Sweetman’s intervention could fundamentally change the farm planning process.
Kelly argued that standard farm planning applications, that took four to five months and cost €4,000 to €5,000, now risked taking eight to 12 months costing up to €10,000.
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