Mr John Burke's family farm is located in one of the country's more scenic locations, Pontoon in Co Mayo. In May, he was refused planning permission to build a house on his own land, overlooking Loch Cullin in the townland of Curlummin, Pontoon, near Foxford. He is devastated by the refusal.
"I had been granted planning permission by Mayo County Council to build a single-storey house on this hill, overlooking the lake. I had gone through all the required planning procedure with Mayo County Council and the council passed everything and I thought I was fine," he says.
"Then the North West Regional Fisheries Board objected to my development and lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala. The fishery board's appeal was upheld by An Bord Pleanala. There's nowhere for me to go from here and I really don't understand what An Bord Pleanala is objecting to.
"It expresses concern that effluent will seep out of tanks at this site. But I was going to put in a Bord na Mona Puraflow percolating system and it's guaranteed for percolation if fitted to council standards. So that argument makes little sense.
"In addition, An Bord Pleanala says it is against ribbon development around lakes but there's already been plenty of that recently, around this lake. To the left of me, three new houses have recently been erected and to my right there's a new house under construction at the moment and it's closer than I am to the lakeshore. The fishery board made no objection to these developments, as far as I'm aware," Mr Burke claims.
"My proposed dwelling house would be approximately 260 metres from the water. So as far as I'm concerned, we're not all playing on a level field."
Mayo Fine Gael TD Mr Michael Ring has visited the site at Curlummin. "It amazes me how the fisheries board can object to this man's development. I see other new houses around him and you have to ask why it didn't object to these. In my clinic in Westport every day I am visited by people around the county, telling me of similar situations. The biggest problem is the perceived inconsistency in it all," he says.
"It costs up to £6,000 for a person to install a Bord na Mona percolator on a new site to take care of sanitation. The system is guaranteed and meets the standards insisted on by the council, as long as the council oversees its installation. So why have the fishery board such concerns?"
The chief executive of the North West Regional Fisheries Board, Mr Vincent Roche, says the board is not against development but is opposed to any development with the potential to further pollute local waterways.
"An Bord Pleanala gave its reasons for refusing planning permission to Mr Burke at this location and we cannot afford to ignore its considered opinion. The North West Regional Fisheries Board believes that to avoid confusion among landowners around the lakes and rivers, a blanket ban should be imposed in sensitive areas around our waterways," Mr Roche suggests.
According to a fishery biologist, Dr Martin O'Grady, there are sound scientific reasons for the fishery board's objections. Two of the country's best trout and salmon lakes located in county Mayo, Loch Cullin and Loch Conn, are in danger of becoming non-fisheries, according to Dr O'Grady, an adviser to the board.
Dr O'Grady says the major problem is too much phosphorus in the water. "The principal causes of excess phosphorus in lakes and rivers are farmers spreading phosphorous fertiliser on land where it is not required, together with inadequate sewage treatment schemes."
Dr O'Grady was one of a delegation of members from the fisheries board who addressed members of Castlebar Urban District Council last week. Mayo Co Council intends spending £40 million on an upgraded sewage treatment plant in Castlebar, and an environmental impact study on the proposal is before An Bord Pleanala. However, the fisheries board is objecting to this new plant, saying it is not adequate, and is objecting to any development around the county town until an adequate system is in place to cope with the town's requirements.
Environmental officer with the board, Ms Siobhan Shiel, told councillors the effluent that would be coming from the proposed new treatment plant would be twice that of the river flow. "The Castlebar River, a tributary of the Moy, is designated under the EU Waste Water Treatment Regulations of 2001 as a sensitive area," she said.
While the EU imposes a onein-20 dilution rate in the river, the newly designed treatment plant will be dealing with a one to two dilution rate at times in that river (during dry weather).