Opinion: still no answers on when rural Ireland will get a planning break

It’s almost three months since the team at Irish Country Living reached out to our readers for their thoughts and experiences of the planning system when trying to build a home in rural Ireland.

Since then, we have spoken to people all over the country who regardless of their Eircode have all experienced the frustration of a cumbersome, expensive, drawn-out process that in many cases failed to deliver a successful outcome.

We have featured families who have ended up homeless due to their local authority’s planning policy, and others who cannot live on the land they farm due to rules enforced by planners, who have never visited the site in question.

While our readers have spoken openly on the issue there has been silence from the people who make and implement planning policy. Despite repeated requests to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an interview with Minister James Browne, we have been unable to ask him the questions many of you want answered.

Likewise, senior local authority management officials have declined our requests for interview on the subject, with Cork, Meath, and Wicklow among the local authorities who were not willing to discuss the matter.

Requests

Requests were also made to those working for Transport Infrastructure Ireland in its planning section, to explain the process they work with when determining what planning applications are appealed and which are allowed pass.

But no one was willing to talk.

One senior planner, who only agreed to speak off the record, told Irish Country Living that the Government’s commitment under the National Planning Framework to have 50% of development outside Dublin and the main urban areas was not being met.

He said discussions have been had with Minister Browne and his predecessor Darragh O’Brien as to the changes required to allow for this target to be met, but that no progress had been made, meaning people are still being prevented from building homes in rural Ireland.

The lack of transparency and consistency in planning seems to be a common theme throughout the country and those who have their own land are being thwarted in their efforts to meet their own housing need.

Housing crisis

During last November’s election campaign, Fianna Fáil, the leading government party pledged to make it possible for all farmers’ children to build on their land, as part of its efforts to tackle the housing crisis.

Micheál Martin went as far as to say that the pledge would be included in the updated Rural Housing Guidelines. However, these are yet to be published despite the current regulations dating back to 2005.

“Our view is that if you’re the son or daughter of a farmer, you should be entitled to build on the land and we want to make sure that the guidelines reflect that,” Mr Martin said at the time.

However, his own minister is now refusing to speak to rural Ireland on when these guidelines will be published and whether or not that election pledge will be realised.