Council split over proposals to severely restrict opportunities for one-off housing

Cllrs to vote on County Development Plan recommendation that will require applicants for planning permission to own 15 acres of land

PAUL MURPHY

The controversial issue of the building of one-off houses in rural areas has once again exploded onto Meath County Council’s agenda with a new proposal that applicants in many part of the county should have a minimum of 15 acres before being granted planning permission.

The move is meeting stiff opposition and there are split views between councillors representing largely urban areas and those representing rural parts of Meath.

The council executive has long sought to end the practice of allowing one-off housing in rural areas. A proposed new policy prioritises those who “need” to live in rural areas as opposed to those who “want” to live in rural parts. Council officials maintain that the current level of rural housing development in the county is unsustainable with national planning framework and regional, spatial and economic strategy. They warned of “irreversible damage” to rural environment, landscape character and the future viability of agricultural enterprises if the practice was allowed to continue.

They want measures to promote clustering of housing called graigs or nodes.

The issue came into sharp focus just before last Thursday’s Meath County Council deliberations on the rural settlement guidelines in a new development plan for the county for the next six years when Independent Cllr Nick Killian published a post on Facebook. He said that it had originally been proposed that only families owning 25 acres would be allowed to build a house in rural areas. This had then been reduced to 15 acres. He said that as a councillor dealing with planning issues over 25 years he had always been in favour of the right of every family living in a rural community to have the right for their sons or daughters to apply for a one-off rural house along planning guidelines. He said the new 15-acre requirement was being “dictated” to councillors from government and the Office of the Planning Regulator.

He considered this new planning demand as a retrograde step. He said he would be voting against any such proposal coming before the council. Another from Senator Sharon Keogan called on people living in rural areas to lobby their councillors to vote against the new proposal.

Councillors had met last Wednesday to discuss rural settlement and when they met again on Thursday to make decisions on the policy, there were moves to adjourn debate on the issue to allow for deeper reflection. Some councillors, mainly in North Meath whose areas would be unaffected by the new policy wanted to move on. However, other councillors demanded time for further consideration. Council Cathaoirleach Cllr David Gilroy said that while it was important that information be got out to people, he found some of the social media comments to be “damaging to our work and unhelpful to our cause.” A decision was made by the councillors to defer further discussion on the issue today (Wednesday).