The battle's been lost : has all hope of countering the advance of built-up areas been shattered?

Abstract

A sense of resignation has pervaded the environmental community, which is probably borne out of 'objection fatigue' and out of the sheer dimensions of the development deluge. 'Tire them down' has always been the mantra adopted by the pro-development lobby in this country, and it is currently working to a tee since realistically, environmental NGOs and the public cannot simply react to every single objectionable planning application. Not even the Environment Resources Authority manages such a mammoth screening and reviewing task. And even if they would, their (including those of ERA) legitimate objections are regularly swept under the carpet.