Minister warns of rural sterilisation

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche has called for a less dogmatic approach to rural planning, and criticised those who wish to curtail home building in the countryside, warning that they would, destroy vibrant rural communities, if they had their will.

He said the Rural Planning Guidelines are intended to introduce balance into the debate on planning of rural housing.

“There are people in this country who believe that the best approach to planning in rural Ireland is to allow nothing to happen,” said the Minister, speaking at the opening of the 2005 Tinahely Agricultural Show.