Planning body has concerns over one-off houses in Co Kerry

Most of the new houses, some 59%, were outside small towns which themselves experienced population decline, the Office of the Planning Regulator has noted

Mon, 24 Aug, 2020 - 15:36

Anne Lucey

More than half of all new houses built in Kerry in the past five years were one-off houses in the countryside, sparking concerns from the body set up to advise local authorities.

Most of the new houses, some 59%, were outside small towns which themselves experienced population decline, the Office of the Planning Regulator has noted.

The hollowing out of towns and villages in the preference by those who can afford it to live in rural areas is one of the key issues already identified by the council planners in their preparation of a new six-year County Development Plan for Kerry.

The independent body of the planning regulator, set up 18 months ago to prevent a repeat of the unbridled development of the Celtic Tiger era and to advise local authorities on planning, says the new County Development Plan is a chance to turn things around.

Kerry experienced some of the most intense building in the countryside of any county during the period to 2008.

With almost 8,200 holiday homes, it has among the highest amount of second homes in the country as a result.

In the downturn a ban on second homes was imposed and this is still the case.

However, of the 1,840 new addresses in the past five years, 1,079 have been built in the countryside, it has emerged.

In a submission before this weekend’s deadline on key issues for the 2022-2028 Kerry plan, the Office of the Planning Regulator said: "The Office notes, with concern, that up to 59% of all new residences constructed between 2015 and 2020 were located in the open countryside outside of any villages or town ..."

At the same time, the majority of towns like Cahersiveen, Dingle, Kenmare, Killorglin, Listowel and Castleisland experienced population decline, it found.

“The next Kerry County Development Plan is therefore a timely opportunity for analysis and evidence-based policy development in relation to implementable measures to turn around the trend above and, in particular, to rejuvenate smaller towns and villages where, often, the only significant level of new housing provision is from the social housing sector,” it submits.

The preference for living outside towns and villages is one of the challenges facing planners, senior council planner, Damien Ginty, has said.

In line with some other counties the preference in Kerry for those who can afford it is to live outside towns, with villages and towns being left for social housing, he has outlined in webinars to promote discussion of the new plan.

It is not the first time the planning regulator, established in January 2019, has stepped into planning issues in Kerry. Last August councillors did a u-turn on retaining residential zoning in lands owned by legendary Kerry Footballer Mick O’Connell and his neighbour on Valentia Island.

They had backed O’Connell in the draft plan before the local elections in May 2019 but reversed that decision after the planning regulator warned that the 9.4 hectare lands near Knightstown village on Valentia Island had to be zoned agriculture in the West Iveragh local area plan.

All but one of the six councillors in the Kenmare area, Johnny Healy-Rae, changed their minds after the intervention of the regulator.