Mayo Rural Housing Design Guidelines

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   VOLUME 4 Supporting Documentation M AYO C O U N T Y D E V E LO P M E N T PLAN 2022 - 2028

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   M A Y O R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S 2 0 0 8 MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL

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   2 R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL C O N T E N T S 1.0 S i t e S e l e c t i o n & H o u s e S i t i n g 2.0 R o a d S e t b a c k & S i t e E n t r a n c e 3 . 0 H o u s e F o r m 4 . 0 H o u s e C o n s t r u c t i o n & D e t a i l 5 . 0 M a t e r i a l s 6 . 0 E n v i r o n m e n t a l S u s t a i n a b i l i t y 7 . 0 B u i l d i n g R e g u l a t i o n s . 8 . 0 M a k i n g A n A p p l i c a t i o n . REASONS FOR THIS GUIDE TO REMOVE UNCERTAINTY AND IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS TO RESPOND TO CONTINUOUS REQUESTS FOR CLARITY TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF TRADITIONAL FORMS, SCALE AND MATERIALS THAT HAVE A PROVEN HISTORY OF BLENDING INTO THE MAYO LANDSCAPE TO PROTECT MAYO’S MAGNIFICENT LANDSCAPE AND NATURAL HERITAGE TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY TO PROMOTE BIODIVERSITY AND THE PRESERVATION OF HEDGEROWS TO STRENGTEN OUR CULTURAL AND SOCIAL HERITAGE TO COUNTERACT CURRENT TRENDS TOWARDS SUBURBAN TYPE DESIGN, PROMINENT SITING AND UNSUITABLE FINISHES.

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   3 R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL 1.0 S I T E S E L E C T I O N & H O U S E S I T I N G The aim of this guidance is to provide clear recommendations when selecting a site and carefully positioning a house within the landscape in order to protect, enhance and conserve our natural environment that it may be enjoyed by all persons and future generations to come.

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   4 1 . 1 S I T E S E L E C T I O N & H O U S E S I T I N G S E C T I O N 1 . 1 Select your Site & Locate your house to: Maximise solar heat & light gain to living areas ie. face Southwards. Maximise wind shelter from topography & trees. Minimise the visual impact of the building on the landscape. Position the house amongst hills and ridges as opposed to landing the house on top of such landscape features. Care should be taken in hilly/mountainous areas when choosing a site. Siting a house in a high location may only serve to diminish the visual attractions offered by the varied and unique landscape of Mayo. Avoid loss of existing mature trees, hedgerows and stone walls on site. In addition to the aesthetic qualities offered by existing mature planting, trees and stone walls should always be retained to create shelter & privacy. R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL Figure 1 Figure 2 LOCATE HOUSE FOR SHELTER, PRIVACY AND TO MINIMISE VISUAL IMPACT

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   5 1 . 2 S I T E S E L E C T I O N & H O U S E S I T I N G Avoid: Imposing the house on the landscape. The house should be designed to become part of it, and should sit neatly into the existing contours and not located at the highest point. Blocking of, or intrusion into scenic views. Breaking the Skyline. Unnecessary site excavation or site filling. Unnecessary exposure to prevailing winds. Automatically facing onto the nearest road, consider shelter, orientation and topography as guidelines to siting. Large volumes with excessive roof spans. The house should be broken down into smaller forms to reduce visible volume & height. Figure 3 Figure 4 R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL

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   6 1 . 3 S I T E S E L E C T I O N & H O U S E S I T I N G Position your house to: Use surrounding topography for shelter. Allow the visible massing of house to be reduced. Minimise the visual impact of the house on the landscape. Provide house & garden areas that are secluded and private in a natural landscape. Prevent unnecessary destruction of mature planting and stone walls already on the site. Use natural, existing backdrop of trees to provide a shelter belt. Maximise on solar heat and light gain into the main living areas of the house. Garden Planting: Plant wind shelterbelts to windward side of house (thus reducing heating bills). Plant to reduce visual impact of building and harmonise house in landscape. Reflect the indigenous natural planting of the area. Avoid: Suburban type non-indigenous hedgerows, plants and trees. Formal arrangement of plants. Floodlighting and ornate suburban style garden lighting. R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7

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   7 R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL 2.0 R O A D S E T B A C K & S I T E ENT R A N C E The aim of this guidance is to provide clear recommendations when designing and selecting a site entrance in order to protect, enhance and restore our natural hedgerows, along lanes and roads so that our wildlife and the safety of all road users can be sustained.

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    8 2.1 R O A D S E T B A C K & S I T E ENT R A N C E Site Entrance: Locate your Site Entrance to: Maximise road visibility yet – Minimise necessary width of road set back. Minimise removal of existing hedgerow and stone walls. Do not exceed maximum set back of 3.0 metres. (See set-back width calculation guidelines) Set-back area each side of gateway shall be planted with grass. Entrance gate set back by a further 2.0 metres with the boundary wall splayed 45 degrees. Where it is known that an adjacent site may be developed in the future—site entrances should be located to one side. This will reduce the length of road set back required and consequently the amount of older hedge row or stone lost. Avoid: Unnecessarily wide road set backs. Unnecessary removal or original hedgerows, trees and stone walls. ‘Crazy Paving’ type stone cladding in lieu of dry stone walling. Elaborate gate posts and gates. Non-indigenous hedge species. Road Set-Back Ground Finish: Provide quality grey or brown pea gravel finish. Avoid: Tarmacadam, hardcore or maintenance stone ground finish. Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 R U R A L H O U S I N G D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL

Source Mayo County Council: Mayo Rural Housing Design Guidelines (2008) · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.