Boyhan calls on govt to publish planning guidelines for rural homes
Independent Senator Victor Boyhan has called on the government to publish national planning guidelines for those seeking to build a home in rural Ireland.
Senator Boyhan, a member of the Seanad Agricultural Panel, said that the existing rural housing guidelines have been in place since 2005 and "have proven to be very restrictive".
The senator said that this is "an impediment" to those looking to return to rural communities.
"Too many young people are being denied the opportunity to build a home on their family farmland or close by, that situation is unfair and needs to be addressed in new rural planning guidelines," he added.
A policy objective listed under the National Planning Framework 2040 states that rural areas under urban influence, facilitate the provision of "single housing", based on the consideration of the social need to live in the area.
According to the framework, the need for single housing in the countryside should assessed through the local authority’s overall Housing Need Demand Assessment (HNDA) tool and county development plan core strategy processes.
Senator Boyhan described one-off housing as a "thorny issue" for the last government, and said that the Green Party has been "strongly opposed to a general relaxation" of rural homes policy, due to environmental impacts.
"New guidelines need to balance environmental and social concerns so that more people get the chance to live in their local communities," Senator Boyhan said.
Senator Boyhan told Agriland that "significant work must now be undertaken" to balance the right to build one-off homes in rural Ireland in a "sustainable manner".
"The economic and social benefits for families of being able to build a home and raise a family close to an aging population in rural areas needs to be also factored into any new guidelines", he said.
Boyhan has called again on government to publish a draft set of planning guidelines for rural housing and for that draft to put out for a period of public consultation, comment and feedback, in advance of final guidelines being agreed.
