The whole area of planning a new home is exciting. It involves dreams and plans for a new couple. It might be upsizing or downsizing or just building a new home for an existing family.

Whatever the circumstances farmers are starting with a huge ace by having the site. I remember with deep fondness when Tim and I were planning our house in 1980/81. The house was mostly drawn on the back of an envelope in whatever pub we were meeting up in.

Tim had a meeting with the planners. Windows had to be balanced and we had to submit a landscape plan. Nobody asked if it was wise to have steps up to the back and front doors. My memory is that planning was granted easily.

Roll on a few years and we were well tired of dragging buggies up four front steps. In 1994, we decided to sell our house and build a new one, realising that Julie needed a wheelchair and Diarmuid would be safer away from the road.

We requested and got a pre-planning meeting. There were guidelines given; a sample of the brick had to be submitted, windows had to be symmetrical and the roof to be dark grey flat tile. Permission was granted.

We are now in the city hinterland of Cork that severely limits options for new houses. It does allow agricultural development and food and tourism related enterprises. It also recognises the value of biodiversity in the city hinterland.

Now, Colm and Elaine and their little boy Peter live right next door to us. We feel secure and supported. If Colm is needed in the yard, I can just ring him and he’s there in minutes. Up to last year they lived about 20 minutes away.

They couldn’t get a meeting. This was not ideal. They weren’t really guided. They were more or less told to put in an application and see

Their house is of a modern ilk. It has the same characteristics as the new houses in the area. Individual planners put their mark on how an area looks. The new houses are clean cut. The windows are symmetrical, the roofs are largely uninteresting with a slate grey and a porch is rarely a feature.

Although these houses are of a time, they don’t fit into the landscape that well. They are very visible.

However, they have wonderful features too such as the air-to-water heating systems and the use of big patio doors that are in effect glass walls that bring the countryside right into the living room.

Colm and Elaine had pre-planning correspondence. They couldn’t get a meeting. This was not ideal. They weren’t really guided. They were more or less told to put in an application and see. They did, the planners needed more information and didn’t like the location.

They had four gable ends. It was too many despite our house being next door with six. They had to lose a front porch reducing the size of their front hall and a few other issues.

They re-applied. They did not contest the issues because they knew that could delay the granting of permission.

The question here is what public good did it serve to make them drop the porch and change some windows?

It is important to understand the planning laws in your own area. We are in a very tight planning zone so even though we were happy to give sites to our other children, they will never be able to use them. Ribbon development can be a difficulty for farmers.

Sometimes, people buy a site and don’t realise how different rural life is. It is important to be welcoming to them and hopefully all rural dwellers can live in harmony.

Nevertheless, we must accept that there is a bigger picture and that we are not the experts.