Vol. 448 No. 6
122 Mr. Hyland asked the Minister for the Environment his views on the need to deal with the rural/urban imbalance in public housing programmes; and if he will instruct local authorities to encourage a more balanced approach in their housing programme for the purpose of maintaining the rural infrastructure and keeping people in the rural countryside. [2767/95]
Guidelines issued to housing authorities on the provision of local authority dwellings:
— emphasise the importance of new housing to the maintenance of small rural communities and to the viability of local shops, schools etc.;
— stipulate that the building of single dwellings in rural areas should be limited to those special categories (for example, farmers and small-holders who desire to live on their holdings, and agricultural workers who must live near their place of employment) whose needs can be met satisfactorily only by the provision of such dwellings, and that there should be a continuing need for the dwelling during its useful life.
The number of rural cottages included in each housing authority's annual housing programme is a matter for determination by the authority itself.
