Ministerial guidelines
Sustainable Rural Housing: Guidelines for Planning Authorities
One-off houses in the countryside: rural area types, local housing need, and siting and design.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government · April 2005 · 66 pages
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- 45 Planning Guidelines change without significantly changing its character can be directly related to the quality of location and siting of a development within that landscape. The location and siting of rural housing should be informed by landscape character, quality and distinctiveness9. Proposals for housing in rural areas should be assessed having regard to the extent to which they: • Complement the landscape and avoid unacceptable visual intrusion, • Introduce incongruous landscape elements, and • Help to maintain important landscape elements and features that contribute to local landscape character, quality and distinctiveness (e.g. topographical features, geological features, cultural features, or ecological resources which are characteristic of that landscape type). Biodiversity The natural heritage embraces various types of sites and areas that have been designated as important for nature, including designation by various authorities within Ireland as well as designation on foot of EU Directives. It is government policy to secure the conservation of a representative range of ecosystems and to maintain and enhance the populations of flora and fauna in Ireland. Planning authorities should take all reasonable steps to ensure that planning applications involving development that may affect aspects of biodiversity and natural heritage are referred in a timely manner to any prescribed bodies, and should also have regard to the inter relationship of these sites and the need for corridors and stepping stones between them. Planning authorities should also have regard to the National Heritage Plan and any County/City Heritage Plans and Biodiversity Plans. 9 The draft planning guidelines on landscape character assessment should be used by planning authorities as a framework to profile different landscape character areas and policy responses within the development plan process.
- 46lanning Guidelines It is likely that, at a national scale, most single housing developments will belocated on habitats of low biodiversity value. However a large concentration of single houses could have adverse impacts on habitats of biodiversity value. The potential impacts of rural housing on biodiversity can be broadly divided into factors operating at two scales: • Impacts on sites of biodiversity importance (site-scale impacts), and • Cumulative impacts of many developments on biodiversity in the wider countryside (area-wide impacts). Site scale impacts as impacts arising from one or a number of developments that affect a localised feature of biodiversity importance, such as an important habitat, or a population of a rare species. Rural housing will only have significant negative impacts on biodiversity at the site scale if the development location happens to coincide with a site of biodiversity importance. As the majority of the Irish countryside is intensively farmed (particularly in eastern and southern Ireland), the majority of single rural housing developments are likely to be located on sites of low biodiversity value While these sites are likely to also contain areas of field boundary habitats of somewhat greater biodiversity value, the area of field boundary habitat removed will usually be very small in relation to the total amount in the local area. Area-wide impacts can be defined as the cumulative impact of many separate developments on biodiversity in the wider countryside. There are at least two potential mechanisms for such impacts: • Piecemeal habitat loss where the overall habitat loss results in a significant reduction in the extent of an important habitat in the landscape, and • Piecemeal habitat alteration resulting in a significant change in the habitat configuration of the landscape, potentially affecting the permeability of the landscape to species movement and dispersal.
- 47 Planning Guidelines Planning authorities should have full regard to biodiversity considerations in determining individual applications for rural housing. Planning authorities must ensure that a proposal which is likely to have a significant effect on an SAC or other designated area, is authorised only to the extent that the planning authority is satisfied will not adversely affect the integrity of the area. Such a proposal must be subjected to an appropriate assessment of its implications for the area, if it is clear, on the basis of a preliminary examination, that the project could have a significant effect on the area. All aspects of the proposal which could, in themselves, or in combination with other proposals, affect the area’s conservation objectives should be identified. Planning authorities should also seek to protect and preserve existing hedgerows and to encourage hedgerow formation/regeneration using native species. Such interventions can have an important role to play in maintaining linkages between natural and semi-natural habitats. Archaeological Heritage The document “Framework and Principles for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage”10 sets out national policy and broad principles for the protection of the archaeological heritage. It provides guidance to planning authorities on the relevant sources of archaeological data, the overall approach to be applied to archaeological heritage in the context of development and the protection of archaeological monuments and areas. It indicated general policy principles of seeking to secure the preservation (in situ or by record) of archaeological monuments and sites and protecting and enhancing the settings of monuments. In order to avoid unnecessary delays and difficulties in assessing a particular application, planning authorities should facilitate, as far as practicable, pre-planning consultations to identify any sites that may include or be within the vicinity of: 10 Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands 1999
- 48lanning Guidelines • Recorded sites and features of historical and archaeological importance included in the Record of Monuments as established under section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act, 1994, • Major sites of archaeological importance in State Ownership or Guardianship, • National Monuments which are the subject of preservation orders, and • Archaeology in zones of archaeological potential. These consultations can help to provide prospective developers with advance warning of the archaeological sensitivity of a site and to limit situations where a refusal of permission might otherwise be unavoidable. As a result individual developers may wish to commission their own archaeological assessment by a qualified archaeological consultant. This need not involve fieldwork and would generally be restricted to a desk-based evaluation of existing information. In some cases it may be possible to avoid or minimise impact through re-location on the site. Where early discussions with local planning authorities, or the developer's own research, indicate that important archaeological remains may exist, it is reasonable for the planning authority to request the prospective developer to arrange for an evaluation to be carried out before any decision on the planning application is taken. This sort of evaluation is quite distinct from full archaeological excavation. It is normally a rapid and inexpensive operation, involving ground survey and small-scale trial trenching, but a qualified archaeological organisation or archaeologist should carry it out. Evaluations of this kind help to define the character and extent of the archaeological remains that exist in the area of a proposed development, and thus indicate the weight that ought to be attached to their preservation. They also provide information useful for identifying potential options for minimising or avoiding damage. On this basis, an informed and reasonable planning decision can be taken. Once the planning authority has sufficient information, there is a range of options for the determination of planning applications affecting archaeological remains and their settings. Planning
- 49 Planning Guidelines authorities should seek to ensure that potential conflicts are resolved and that any agreements with developers are concluded, before planning permission is granted. It is open to a planning authority to impose conditions designed to avoid damage to the archaeological heritage or to mitigate impact. Where appropriate, conditions may provide that reasonable access is given to an archaeologist nominated by or acceptable to the planning authority - either to hold a "watching brief" during the construction period or specifically to carry out archaeological investigation and recording in the course of the permitted operations on site. Conditions on these lines help to ensure that if remains of archaeological significance are disturbed in the course of the work, they can be recorded and, if necessary, emergency salvage undertaken. In cases where planning authorities have decided that planning permission may be granted but wish to secure the provision of archaeological excavation and the subsequent recording of the remains, it is open to them to do so by attaching appropriate conditions. Such conditions might limit the commencement of development until such time as specified works or other action, e.g. an excavation, has been carried out by an archaeologist. Built Heritage Potential impacts from proposed developments on built heritage, for example in the vicinity of protected structures, inland waterways and heritage gardens and parks are best avoided or mitigated by consultation between the planning authority and prospective developers at the earliest stages of development. Therefore, planning authorities should encourage and facilitate applicants in entering into early consultation regarding such development proposals. Planning authorities should also encourage applicants and their agents to assess the likely impact of their proposals on any relevant protected structures, and to provide such written information or drawings as may be required to understand the significance of a site or structure before an application is determined.
- 50lanning Guidelines Proposals that take account of the special character of protected structures and their attendant grounds should be considered for approval by planning authorities.
- 51 Planning Guidelines Appendix 3: Development Plan Objectives and Issues for Rural Areas Box 1: Areas under strong Urban Influence The key development plan objectives in these areas should be to on the one hand to facilitate the housing requirements of the rural community as identified by the planning authority in the light of local conditions while on the other hand directing urban generated development to areas zoned for new housing development in cities, towns and villages in the area of the development plan. In addition policies will also normally include references to: • The types of situations considered as constituting rural generated housing. (See also Section 3.2.2.), • Measures that will be put in place to facilitate the availability of an appropriate level of housing options in smaller settlements for other housing requirements, • The criteria that will be applied by the planning authority generally in assessing rural generated housing proposals e.g. in relation to evidence of an applicant’s links to the area in question, and • The measures to be adopted to ensure that development permitted to meet the requirements of those with links to the rural community continues to meet the requirements for which it was permitted.
- 52lanning Guidelines Box 2: Stronger Rural Areas The key development plan objective in relation to these types of areas should be to consolidate and sustain the stability of the population and in particular to strike the appropriate balance between development activity in smaller towns and villages and wider rural areas. The development plan should aim to strike a reasonable balance between: (1) Accommodating proposals for individual houses in rural areas subject to good practice in relation to matters such as siting and design as outlined elsewhere in these guidelines, (2) Actively stimulating and facilitating new housing development in smaller towns and villages to provide for balanced urban and rural choices in the new housing market and (3) Carefully monitoring development trends to avoid areas becoming overdeveloped in terms of leading, for example, to extensive ribbon development. The overall approach in this regard in such areas is to ensure these areas maintain a stable population base in both urban and rural parts. In addition, policies should include references to: • Selecting particular small villages and towns to pilot combined local authority and private investment to stimulate attractive high quality individual housing or private site developments to attract population growth and further investment, • The need to monitor population and development trends in rural areas in order to identify areas at risk from population decline and trigger policies aimed at encouraging appropriate levels of new development in rural areas and selected villages and smaller towns, and • The need to monitor population and development trends in rural areas in order to identify pockets where very significant individual housing activity is occurring leading to ribbon development, wastewater disposal difficulties, traffic or other serious planning issues.
- 53 Planning Guidelines Box 3: Structurally Weak Areas The key development plan objective in these areas should refer to the need to accommodate any demand for permanent residential development as it arises subject to good practice in matters such as design, location and the protection of important landscapes and any environmentally sensitive areas. In addition, policies will normally include references to: • Identifying potential development areas such as crossroad type settlements or population decline blackspots where appropriately located and designed clustered development will be both encouraged and accommodated, • Linkage to other policies aimed at enhancing development potential and availability of indigenous employment in weaker areas, for example by identifying potential for development of local enterprise, agri-tourism, waterway related development, tourist accommodation and renewable energy as some examples, and • Monitoring the operation of settlement policies on an ongoing basis in structurally weak areas to avoid excessive levels of or inappropriately located development.
- 54lanning Guidelines Box 4: Areas with clustered settlement patterns The key development plan objective in these areas should be to support the maintenance of a vibrant rural population, including the maintenance of the integrity and viability of essential rural services and facilities, while also protecting valuable assets such as important landscape quality and the natural and cultural heritage including the linguistic integrity of gaeltacht areas. Allied to this objective, the development plan should aim to: • Define the extent of clusters and gatherings of individual houses that are considered by the planning authority as suitable for infill development and consolidation, • Distinguish, using maps and local plans between infill development within areas that have a tradition of linear development over generations and new areas of ribbon development, • Identify particular aspects of important landscape and items of natural and cultural heritage interest that new development should respect, and • Give special consideration to the effects of new development in gaeltacht areas on the survival, use and development of the Irish language as a means of daily communication.
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.