Farmers and those living in rural areas are being encouraged to “have their say” in a newly-launched public consultation on the National Planning Framework (NPF).
Victor Boyhan, a member of the Seanad, also called on the Department of Housing, Planning, and Heritage to prepare a “concise and user-friendly” executive summary of the NPF, due to the complexity of the consultation document, so that a “meaningful public engagement and consultation process takes places”.
The public consultation on the draft revision of the NPF opened for consultation last week and will remain open for public views until September 12.
The department will also run an information campaign to raise awareness of the consultation process and encourage the public to engage.
According to the government, the NPF is the overarching policy and planning framework for Ireland up to 2040.
The purpose of the revising the framework now, according to the Department of Housing, is to reflect changes in government policy since its original introduction in 2018.
These changes are in in the areas of climate transition, regional development, demographics, digitalization, and investment and prioritisation, the department said.
It added that the draft NPF retains a focus on balanced distribution of growth across all Ireland’s regions. However, the department also cited a commitment “to the promotion of city-based population and employment growth” with a target of 50% of future population and employment growth to be focused in the existing five cities and their suburbs.
As part of the process, Boyhan called for guidelines for rural housing to be revised and to be given statutory force.
Such guidelines should provide that local authorities grant planning permission for farm families who wish to live and work in their local community, and extended family members who have a link with their rural areas.
“I believe that sustainable rural housing should for a key part of the new National Planning Framework and would encourage agricultural and rural communities to make their view know during the public consultation process,” Boyhan said.