In March 2004, guidelines for planning authorities on sustainable rural housing were published in draft form to give all those interested an opportunity to comment before the guidelines are finalised. I expect to be in a position to issue the guidelines in final statutory form shortly.
It is a central objective of the guidelines to facilitate people who are part of or contribute to rural communities to gain planning permission for their housing proposals, subject to normal planning requirements in matters such as siting, waste water treatment and safe access. The guidelines call for development plans to incorporate examples and suggestions as to the broad categories of circumstances which would indicate that proposals for rural housing development are intended to meet the needs of a person who is part of the rural community. Such examples would include farmers, their sons and daughters and or any persons taking over the ownership and running of farms, as well as people who have lived most of their lives in rural areas and are building their first homes and those in part-time occupations where the predominant occupation is farming or is natural resource related.
The examples given are of an illustrative nature and are not intended to be exhaustive. The guidelines ask each planning authority to make its own assessment, in the context of its development plan, of the scope and extent of rural housing needs to be considered taking into account local conditions and relevant planning issues.
In addition, the guidelines point to the need to attach appropriate conditions to permissions for houses in rural areas in the vicinity of the larger cities and towns, intended for those who are part of the rural community, requiring that such houses be occupied for a specified period by the applicants and/or their families. Applying such a requirement in appropriate cases enables planning authorities to respond positively to applications from such persons in the areas where development pressure is acute, for example, in the vicinity of the larger cities and towns. It is considered reasonable that an applicant getting permission in such an area on the basis of having an identified rural housing need should be asked to comply with such an occupancy condition.