Lack of data hinders debate on one-off housing

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.

The building boom of the ’90s added urgency and complexity to the discussion and in 1997 the then Labour environment minister, Brendan Howlin, launched a policy document, Sustainable

Development — A Strategy for Ireland, which attempted to lay down ground rules to control the proliferation of one-off housing.

The rural lobby, backed by vocal members of the subsequent Fianna Fáil-PD government, and chiefly Minister for Rural Affairs, Eamon Ó Cuiv, felt the rules were too restrictive and, in 2004, following on from the National Spatial Strategy, a consultation paper was published which proposed building a bias into rural planning which favoured people with roots and/or strong links to the area where they wanted to build.

The resulting guidelines issued a year later formalised the "locals only" criteria and although it is a guideline, rather than hard and fast law, and although the European Commission is investigating its legality given the restrictions it places on the freedom of movement of EU citizens, it is widely imposed by local authorities.

Brussels isn't the only critic — here in Ireland the guidelines are considered too restrictive by some and too liberal by others. One of the problems with the debate is the lack of clear and comprehensive data about one-off rural housing.

A widely-quoted statistic is that 15,000 to 18,000 such houses are built here each year — a substantial number given that the total number of dwellings, including apartments, completed annually has run at about 70,000-80,000 in recent years. But that estimate was made just a few years ago so it is hard to know how far back it can be applied.

The figure is also unreliable because it includes one-off homes built in urban areas such as mews developments, infill housing or back garden homes. The Irish Rural Dwellers’ Association argues it also includes houses built on the edges of rural towns and villages which, while outside the existing settlement boundary, are in reality part of that settlement rather than the stereotypical stand-alone home with no neighbour within shouting distance.

There is also a dearth of information about the polluting effects of one-off houses. While the Environmental Protection Agency found that 57% of its groundwater testing locations tested positive for foecal coliforms, the bacteria from raw sewage, in at least one sample last year, there is no data to link that contamination with septic tanks.

In fact, the last urban waste water report published by the EPA highlights the strain on urban treatment plants, "many" of which were "under increasing pressure from development".

But while the documented problem of pollution appears to lie with urban development, An Bord Pleanála is taking no chances. Chairman John O'Connor warned last November that local authorities were granting permission for sites without getting thorough drainage and soil type tests carried out.

In three-quarters of appeals against one-off housing permissions, the board overturned the local authority's decision and a third of those were refused primarily because of the risk of pollution.