The 2005 Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing, issued by my Department, set out the national policy framework for planning authorities in drawing up their statutory development plans in relation to rural housing, taking into account local circumstances and the type of area involved, including areas near large cities and towns which need careful management of development pressures and other rural areas experiencing population decline. Under the Guidelines, planning authorities are required to frame their planning policies in a balanced and measured way that ensures that the housing needs of rural communities are met, while avoiding excessive urban-generated housing and haphazard development in areas near cities and towns. The Guidelines also aim to ensure that sites being developed for rural housing are suitable with regard to access and wastewater disposal, and also from landscape and design perspectives.
It is a matter for individual planning authorities to prepare their development plans and the policies contained within such plans, taking account of local and varying geographical and landscape circumstances, as well as the approaches set out under the Guidelines in relation to rural-generated housing. It is also a matter for planning authorities, as well as An Bord Pleanála, to implement the Guidelines and local planning policies in assessing and deciding on individual planning applications and appeals under the development management consent process.
I intend to keep the 2005 Guidelines under review, particularly in view of the commitment in the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness to accelerate the delivery of housing in order to address the housing supply deficit and projected housing needs over the coming years, contributing to wider objectives, including the need to support sustainable urban and rural development and communities.
