PARTS of Co Clare are to be reinvigorated following the publication of new guidelines for rural planning.
Minister for Housing, James Browne (FF) and Minister of State for Planning, John Cummins (FG) brought new draft planning guidelines for rural and Gaeltacht housing to Cabinet. The Draft National Planning Statement on Rural and Gaeltacht Housing, agreed by Government on Tuesday will replace the rural housing guidelines introduced in 2005.
Under the proposals, applicants will be able to demonstrate a genuine local housing need, generally through having lived in a rural area for a number of years and seeking to build close to their home community. It also reduces unnecessary local planning rules while continuing to support sustainable development. The draft statement will now undergo environmental assessment before returning to Government for final approval later this year. Once adopted, it will replace the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines that have been in place since 2005.
Junior Minister, Timmy Dooley (FF) described it as the biggest overhaul of rural housing policy in twenty years. Fellow Clare Government TDs, Cathal Crowe (FF) and Joe Cooney (FG) also welcomed the proposals which are aimed at providing greater consistency in rural housing policy and making it easier for people with a local connection to an area to secure planning permission.
Applicants will have greater certainty and a more consistent national approach to rural housing will be introduced, Junior Minister Dooley said. “Building a home in rural Ireland should be one of life’s biggest milestones, but for too many families it has become unnecessarily challenging. Outdated planning rules and uncertainty have turned what should be an exciting step into a stressful and expensive process”.
Tulla resident Dooley continued, “At its heart, this is about creating a planning system that people can better understand and have confidence in”. He added, “These proposals are about giving people that opportunity while continuing to protect the character of our countryside”.
Balanced rural development will be supported while also helping people build homes in their own communities, Deputy Cooney stated. He said the proposals “recognise the importance of allowing people to live and raise families in the communities where they grew up. For too long, many people seeking to build a home in rural areas have faced uncertainty, lengthy delays and significant costs in navigating the planning system. These proposals aim to provide a more practical and consistent approach while continuing to protect the environment and avoid inappropriate development”.
Proposals that would make it easier for people whose employment depends on living in rural areas, including those working in farming, forestry, equine activities and education, to obtain planning permission were welcomed by Cooney. He said the requirement that approved homes be used as permanent principal residences for at least ten years would help ensure rural housing supports local communities. “If we are serious about revitalising our towns, villages and rural communities, we have to make sure that those with a genuine local housing need are accommodated when it comes to planning rules. Too often, young people and families who want to remain in the communities where they were raised have found themselves facing unnecessary barriers. These changes recognise the importance of sustaining rural Ireland by allowing people to live, work and contribute to their local areas”.
Areas of the county which have not prospered in recent years will be provided with an injection of vibrancy as a result of the proposals, Deputy Crowe maintained. “This significant change to planning law will make a real difference for those in rural areas who have previously had to jump through hoops to prove their rural housing need or have found themselves locked out of rural housing altogether”.
Under the new plan, there will be a shift “from inconsistent locally interpreted rules to a standardised national system which will improve transparency and certainty for people who wish to build a new house in a rural area. New policies will see a removal of excessively strict rules relating to ribbon and back land development and the imposition of caps on the number of homes that may be built on a farm,” the Meelick native said.
Crowe added, “The plan also addresses difficulties which have hamstrung development, such as a lack of services, through investment in group water schemes, private well grants and Domestic Wastewater Treatment System Grant schemes and Developer Led Infrastructure”.
