Leitrim could be pilot county for land observatory, meeting told
There has been a call for Leitrim County Council to participate in an initiative to establish a Land Observatory for Ireland.
Cllr Eddie Mitchell (Ind) tabled a motion at last week's meeting of Leitrim County Council.
“Given the county's unique landscape, diverse land types and land use challenges, Leitrim is well placed to pilot such an initiative. A Land Observatory would bring together existing data to show clearly how land is owned, used and changing over time,” his motion stated.
“This would give Leitrim farming families a stronger basis to protect our rural economy from the impacts of land moving from local ownership into increasingly concentrated corporate ownership,” the motion added.
Speaking on his motion, Cllr Mitchell said, “When you want to find out who buys land, there are gaps. Land moves into corporate ownership and portfolios are built up.”
Replying on behalf of the council, Director of Services, Vincent Dwyer said, “the council don't have the competency or knowledge in this area. We couldn't share our limited information for GDPR reasons.”
“The council could also not give the commitment of time and resources for this,” he added.
“If a third party wishes to get involved in this, including any of the members, that is fine,” Dwyer continued.
Dwyer added that there are state bodies such as The Department of Agriculture or Tailte Eireann that could get involved in such a project.