Rural housing guidelines

CLARE County councillors’ bid to change their County Development Plan is one of the first test cases of the new rural housing guidelines on building one-off houses for Environment Minister Dick Roche.

Councillors want to change the plan to allow more than just locals to build one-off rural houses, but also people who owned land in the county before 1999.

Although the council can vote on varying the plan, Minister Roche must be notified of the proposed changes.