Bad planning is a seaside scourge
I have just spent three nights on the Causeway coast, where when the children were young we spent our holidays.
It is always good to return as it holds many happy memories.
The place where we usually booked a house for two weeks was Portstewart.
As I drove into Portstewart, and then went for a walk out to the Strand, I became aware of the vast expansion of the whole town.
As I looked at the new apartments and homes that have shot up, it was obvious that many of these new buildings had no-one at home.
My wife got talking to a lady who lives in Portstewart who, although she likes living in Portstewart, said that in the holiday season the place is packed and is very hard to park on the street, but in the off season it can be like a ghost town.
We have seen what bad planning has done to our villages and to large swathes of countryside in Northern Ireland.
This applies to our seaside towns too, where planning leaves a lot to desired.
As councils have now taken over planning, the jury is out to see if the situation improves and our countryside and seaside towns are protected.
Let’s hope that money does not do the talking!
John Mulholland, Doagh