Council bans one-off housing for non-natives

NON-NATIVES of North Tipperary are to be prevented from building one-off houses in parts of the county to protect the countryside from unsustainable development.

A new county development plan, adopted unanimously by county councillors, prevents non-natives who have been living in the county for less than 10 years building houses in the rural areas surrounding Nenagh, Thurles and Roscrea.

The same rule is to apply around Ballina and Newport where populations have boomed due to these areas becoming part of the commuter belt of Limerick city and Shannon.

The new controls are designed to ensure sustainable development. From now on the only people who will be able to build new homes in these areas will be natives or non-natives who have lived in these localities for a decade or more - and they will only be able to build on sites that are a maximum of five miles from where they live or were raised.

The plan states that housing development in rural areas around the main towns, the Limerick commuter belt and in the area of the Shannon’s largest lake, Lough Derg, have led to an increase in problems with pollution from septic tanks and caused expensive investment in new infrastructure.

“To continue this trend would inevitably lead to a deterioration in the rural environment, would undermine the viability of some farm holdings, and would have a negative impact on North Tipperary as a place to live and as a tourist destination,” the plan said.

The plan seeks to rid the county of any further ribbon development, only allowing a maximum of five houses with separate entrances to be built along any 250-metre stretch of roadway.

Instead, the plan promotes the development of small clusters of houses with a single access from roadways.

North Tipperary County Council will be able to stipulate as part of its planning conditions that applicants must live permanently in a new rural house for a minimum of seven years.

Less strict rules will apply to non-natives and others who wish to build in areas of the county that have experienced depopulation.

Similar controversial measures have already been introduced by councils in Wicklow and Clare to restrict new housing to local, long-term residents.

The Irish Rural Dwellers Association has claimed a constitutional challenge to such rules is inevitable as they attempt to limit ownership of land to particular categories of people.