Department under fire over stance on rural housing
Rural dwellers are expected to face further difficulties in acquiring planning permission for one-off houses under the proposed laws aimed at eliminating sprawl and unsustainable development.
Environment Minister John Gormley said he received approval from his cabinet colleagues for a bill to amend the Planning Act, which is likely to be voted on in the Dáil after it returns in September.
The laws will limit the powers of local councillors in planning decisions by forcing local authorities to adhere to — rather than have regard to — national planning policy.
Government policy, mainly contained in the National Spatial Strategy, is to control the proliferation of one-off housing, with consideration given to exceptions for people with family roots or strong links in the area.
It is estimated between 15,000 to 18,000 such houses are built each year.
Jim Connolly of the Irish Rural Dwellers’ Association said the latest move is part of “an imported ideology of urbanisation in Ireland which is coming from the Department of the Environment down.”
Mr Gormley denied the laws are a back door route to ending one-off housing: “This is not about one-off housing. It is about introducing greater coherence between the National Spatial Strategy, the Regional Planning guidelines and local development plans.
“This is about the common good, to ensure we have good planning and planning which assists with the economic development of an area, ” he said.
“If a person applies for a one-off house, they have to do so legitimately.
“They have to apply to the local planning authority, the planning authorities have to abide then by the 2005 guidelines for rural housing and so it’s all above board, it’s all legitimate and there’s no need to apply for retention in those cases.”
The proposed laws will also close a loophole where work can begin on major construction projects before an Environmental Impact Assessment is carried out.
This is in line with a ruling by the European Court of Justice earlier this month against the granting of retention for unauthorised developments that would otherwise have been subject to an EIA.
“The proposals for the bill represent the latest instalment of a package of measures that I have taken or planned since I took office last year to streamline the planning framework and where possible achieve a better alignment with key national policy objectives including, in particular, addressing climate change through the planning system,” said Mr Gormley.
