Sustainable Rural Housing: Guidelines for Planning Authorities

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   Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities April 2005

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   © Government of Ireland BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH ARNA FHOILSIÚ AG OIFIG AN tSOLÁTHAIR Le ceannach díreach ón OIFIG DHÍOLTA FOILSEACHÁN RIALTAIS TEACH SUN ALLIANCE, SRÁID THEACH LAIGHEAN, BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH 2, nó tríd an bpost ó FOILSEACHÁIN RIALTAIS, AN RANNÓG POST-TRÁCHTA, 51 FAICHE STIABHNA, BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH 2, (Teil: 01 - 6476834/35/36/37; Fax: 01 - 6476843) nó trí aon díoltóir leabhar. ___________ DUBLIN PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased directly from the GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALE OFFICE SUN ALLIANCE HOUSE, MOLESWORTH STREET, DUBLIN 2, or by mail order from GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, POSTAL TRADE SECTION, 51 ST. STEPHEN’S GREEN, DUBLIN 2, (Tel: 01 - 6476834/35/36/37; Fax: 01 - 6476843) or through any bookseller. ____________ €4.00 April, 2005 Prn A5/0535

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   Planning Guidelines Minister’s Foreward I would like to thank sincerely the more than 100 organisations and individuals who made submissions on the draft planning guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing published last year. Many of your submissions were broadly supportive of the draft guidelines. Many of your suggestions have been included in the finalised guidelines. In particular, there is a renewed and strengthened emphasis in the guidelines on improving the service from planning authorities to applicants, with particular reference to improving the availability and responsiveness of preplanning consultations. This will ensure that applicants and planning authorities can work together, on the basis of clear and objective planning criteria, to select the best available site for a house and the best design solution for that site. In this regard it is most important that people have a better understanding of planning issues and that planning officials listen and respond to the concerns of applicants. I was also particularly anxious to ensure that the guidelines made absolutely clear that returning emigrants who were born and lived for substantial parts of their lives in rural areas and who then moved abroad, and who now wish to return to their home-places to reside near other family members, to work locally, to care for elderly family members, or to retire should have their housing requirements facilitated on their return. The organisations who manage the development process in rural areas, such as Planning Authorities and an Bord Pleanala, also made submissions containing helpful suggestions to improve the practical implementation of the guidelines in the development plan process and in the day-to-day operation of the planning system. Many of these suggestions have also been incorporated in the final guidelines.

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   Planning Guidelines I believe these guidelines usher in a new era which enables planning authorities to respond positively to the housing needs of rural communities as an integral part of the sustainable development of rural areas and which accommodates applicants wishing to build houses in rural areas in support of that vital national objective. Dick Roche T.D. Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

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   Planning Guidelines Contents Page No Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Background to Rural Housing Guidelines 3 1.1 Guidelines under the Planning and Development Act 2000 3 1.2 Policy Context 3 Chapter 2. Policy Aims 9 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 Sustaining and Renewing Established Rural Communities 10 2.3 Strengthening Rural Villages and Towns 10 2.4 Guiding Development 11 2.5 Tailoring Planning Policies to Local Circumstances 12 Chapter 3. Rural Housing and the Development Plan 13 3.1 Development Plan Objectives 13 3.2 Identifying Rural Area Types 15 3.2.1 Suggested Policies 18 3.2.2 Holiday and Second Home Development 20 3.2.3 Rural Generated Housing 23 3.3 Other Objectives and policies 25 3.3.1 Landscape, Natural and Cultural Features 26 3.3.2 Natural Resources 27 3.3.3 Siting and Design 28 3.3.4 Transport 28

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   lanning Guidelines Chapter 4. Rural Housing and Planning Applications 30 4.1 Planning Application Information 30 4.2 Improving Services to Applicants 31 4.3 Assessing Housing Circumstances 32 4.4 Access 33 4.5 Protecting Water Quality 35 4.6 Natural and Cultural Heritage 37 4.7 Occupancy Conditions 39 4.8 Design 41 4.9 Conclusion 42 Appendices Appendix 1: Indicative Occupancy Conditions 43 Appendix 2: Supplementary Information on Heritage 44 Appendix 3: Development Plan Objectives and Issues for Rural Areas 51 Appendix 4: Ribbon Development 55 Appendix 5: List of Submissions 56

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   1 Planning Guidelines Introduction Policies on rural housing must be responsive to the dispersed patterns of settlement in Ireland. According to the 2002 Census, around 40% of the Irish population overall lives in rural areas, including smaller towns and villages. In some counties particularly in parts of the midlands and in the west, a much higher proportion of households – up to 70% - live in the open countryside. The 1997 policy document ‘Sustainable Development: A Strategy for Ireland’ mapped out a strategic policy framework to deliver more sustainable development. In dealing with rural housing that Strategy referred to contrasts in development trends between rural de-population in some areas and strong pressure for development of housing in other rural areas close to cities and towns. The Sustainable Development Strategy indicated that there should be a presumption against urban-generated one-off housing in rural areas adjacent to towns. It became clear by the time the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) was being prepared that these provisions were sometimes operated over-rigidly. The NSS accordingly set rural housing policy in a broader and more flexible context, superseding the 1997 Strategy. Expanding on the rural policy framework in the NSS these guidelines provide that: • People who are part of the rural community should be facilitated by the planning system in all rural areas, including those under strong urban-based pressures, • Anyone wishing to build a house in rural areas suffering persistent and substantial population decline will be accommodated, • The development of the rural environs of major urban areas, including the gateways and hubs identified in the NSS and county and other larger towns over 5000 in population needs to be carefully managed in order to assure their orderly development and successful functioning into the future. The principles set out in these guidelines also require that new houses in rural areas be sited and designed to integrate well with their physical surroundings and be generally compatible with:

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   2 lanning Guidelines (1) The protection of water quality in the arrangements made for on site wastewater disposal facilities; (2) The provision of a safe means of access in relation to road and public safety; (3) The conservation of sensitive areas such as natural habitats, the environs of protected structures and other aspects of heritage. The Guidelines make it clear that statutory designation of certain rural areas [i.e. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and National Heritage Areas (NHAs)] is not intended in any way to operate as an inflexible obstacle as such to housing development. In considering development proposals, including the attachment of planning conditions, in such areas, planning authorities should only consider approving proposals they are satisfied will not adversely affect the integrity of the designated area. Acknowledging the trends for development of holiday homes in some coastal, scenic and lakeside parts of the country, the guidelines emphasise the importance of clustering such tourism driven activity, as far as possible, in well designed and appropriately scaled developments in or adjoining small towns and villages. In this regard, it is vital that development trends in relation to holiday homes in rural areas be closely monitored and responded to in order to avoid negative impacts. These guidelines set out in detail how the Government’s policies on rural housing are to be implemented by planning authorities in making their development plans and in the operation of the development control system to ensure a vibrant future for all rural areas. All planning authorities should take immediate steps to review their development plans with a view to incorporating any changes necessary to ensure that development plan policies are consistent with the policies set out in these guidelines.

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   3 Planning Guidelines Chapter 1: Background to Rural Housing Guidelines 1.1 Guidelines under the Planning and Development Act 2000 These guidelines constitute Ministerial guidelines under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. Section 28 provides that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanala shall have regard to Ministerial guidelines in the performance of their functions. 1.2 Policy Context Ireland has a long tradition of people living in rural areas. According to the 2002 census, around 40% of the total national population lived in rural areas, these being defined for the purposes of these guidelines as those areas outside of urban areas with a population of 1500 and over. The 2002 census also shows widely varying trends in relation to the population levels in different types of rural areas. Rural areas close to cities and some larger towns, those close to nationally important transport corridors linked to such cities and larger towns and those in certain more scenic areas are experiencing population growth, with very substantial rates of growth in some cases. Other more remote and economically weaker areas are experiencing population decline. New government policies on planning for housing in rural areas came into effect with the publication of the National Spatial Strategy in 2002. The NSS recognised the long tradition of people living in rural parts of Ireland and promotes sustainable rural settlement as a key component of delivering more balanced regional development. The NSS called for settlement policies in development plans and their implementation in the administration of planning to take into account both the differing demands for housing in rural areas

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    4 lanning Guidelines and varying rural development contexts. Different policies are needed, for example, for areas with declining populations as compared with areas in which there are overspill issues associated with proximity to large cities or towns. The sustainable rural settlement policy framework in the NSS has four broad objectives: (1) To sustain and renew established rural communities and the existing stock of investment in a way that responds to the various spatial, structural and economic changes taking place, while protecting the important assets rural areas possess. (2) To strengthen the established structure of villages and smaller settlements both to support local economies and to accommodate additional population in a way that supports the viability of public transport and local infrastructure and services such as schools and water services. (3) To ensure that key assets in rural areas such as water quality and the natural and cultural heritage are protected to support quality of life and economic vitality. (4) To ensure that rural settlement policies take account of and are appropriate to local circumstances. The NSS also acknowledges that demands for housing in rural areas arise in different circumstances and that, taking account of the policy framework above, it was normal in policy terms to distinguish between: • Housing needed in rural areas within the established rural community by persons working in rural areas or in nearby urban areas (rural generated housing), and • Housing in rural locations sought by persons living and working in urban areas, including second homes (urban generated housing). The NSS emphasised that as a general principle, subject to satisfying good planning practice in matters of site location, positioning on sites, design and the protection of environmentally sensitive areas and areas of high landscape value, rural generated housing needs

Source Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government: Sustainable Rural Housing: Guidelines for Planning Authorities (April 2005) · 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.