Speaker says larger population will impact on services

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

At the same time, people being refused planning permission for houses in the countryside are being told to urbanise — or do without, according to Irish Rural Dwellers’ Association (IRDA) acting secretary Jim Connolly.

“If Ireland was hugely over-populated and short of land, there might be some element of logic to what is taking place, but exactly the opposite is the case,’ he said.

“Even taking into account the recent population growth, our country remains bottom of the league in the EU for population density. For example, if we had the same density as our neighbours, in the UK, Ireland would have a population of at least 30 million.’

Mr Connolly said Dublin planners were predicting the city’s population would grow by another half-a-million — even though official reports were saying that Dublin had the most polluted air and rivers.

He also questioned the belief that plans to house another 45,000 people in Dublin’s docklands would bring ‘new life’ to the city centre.

Speaking at an IRDA conference, in Killarney, Mr Connolly claimed Dublin would not be able to provide enough essential services for all the extra people.

“They may enjoy the new theatres, shops and restaurants, but where in the city centre will they find schools, doctors, dentists, sports grounds, golf clubs, jobs and other services which are essential for a population of that size?” he asked.

If trends continued, he said, we would have hugely overcrowded cities and towns in the future, while much of the countryside would become a green desert.

Meanwhile, a well-known developer called for an end to poky modern apartments.

Mick Wallace attacked such developments — in Dublin and elsewhere — that lack family and other facilities. He was addressing the annual conference of the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) in Kilkenny.

He called for a minimum apartment size of 80 square metres for a two-bed apartment — instead of the present 65 square metres.

Mr Wallace also said ground floor commercial uses should be carefully considered in order to maximise community interaction and to avoid inappropriate uses, based on the highest rental income.

IPI president Henk van der Kamp said: “We welcome Mr Wallace’s views because they are consistent with the policies expressed by the Irish Planning Institute in its recent submission on official Government guidelines on apartment design.”