PROTESTS are to be held next week by west Cork residents angered by planning changes they believe could lead to further population falls in parts of west Cork.

Donal Hickey on sustainable communities and a low-carbon future.

PLANS to earmark a west Cork peninsula as a “special scenic landscape” could lead to mass migration from the area.

THE Department of the Environment has been accused of being “totally opposed to rural housing” and intent on the urbanisation of Ireland, following the announcement yesterday of proposals to tighten planning laws.

ABOUT 60 people yesterday mounted a protest outside a Kerry County Council meeting in Tralee, against what they claimed were over-restrictive planning policies in rural areas.

A PLANNING application for about 100 houses in Killorglin, Co Kerry, has been refused by An Bord Pleanála.

A CLAIM by An Taisce president Eanna Ní Leamhna that a new €150 million bypass must be built between Tralee and Killarney because too many houses have been erected on the existing road was confirmed by Kerry County Council yesterday.

KERRY could soon be toppled from its pre-eminent position in Gaelic football — by strict rural planning policies.

A GROUP representing rural families has called for an urgent review of the composition of An Bord Pleanála, claiming its membership may be unlawful.

DEBATE about the desirability of one-off housing has raged since the 1980s although in the early days the argument was more about aesthetics than environmental and social sustainability with many builders accused of destroying the landscape with incongruous Spanish-style villas, mock Palladian mansions and mini-Southforks.

MANY towns and villages are becoming over-populated and congested, just like Dublin, a rural dwellers’ conference heard yesterday.

HURLING and football clubs in neighbouring rural parishes are being forced to amalgamate in order to survive, it was claimed yesterday.

ONE of the most visible signs of the urbanisation of Ireland must surely be the huge number of apartments that are being provided in our cities and towns.

Donal Hickey

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was yesterday accused of making a U-turn on a pledge to ease planning restrictions in rural areas.