One-off holiday homes slammed by minister

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2580750?view=Eircomnet

One-off holiday homes slammed by minister
From:The Irish Independent
Friday, 20th February, 2004
Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

THE MINISTER for Housing has come out against Dubliners buying holiday homes in scenic rural areas already inundated with one-off houses.

These houses, opposed by by environmental groups, now account for 60pc of the record-breaking 70,000 built last year, it was revealed yesterday.

Ireland now has the biggest number of new houses being built anywhere in Europe, a Government report also disclosed.

We build 19 times more than in Sweden, six times more than in the UK and Denmark, and five times more than in Germany, Holland, France and Finland.

Housing Minister Noel Ahern said: "We're not just ahead of the pile. We're so far ahead its incredible."

The numbers have more than doubled from 33,725 in 1996 to a record 68,819 last year, a Dept of the Environment report revealed yesterday.

House completions last year were up 19.3pc on the previous year, with 22,852 alone in the greater Dublin area. There were 14,394 houses completed in Dublin, up 14pc on the previous year and double the 1996 level.

However, 60pc of these outside Dublin are the controversial one-off houses in the countryside, it was revealed.

This means that at least 32,655 one-off houses were built last year, the biggest number on record - double the amount of three years ago.

Minister Ahern entered the heated debate yesterday and said people like himself from Dublin should not be allowed to buy one-off rural holiday homes which are reliant on septic tanks and not linked to mains sewage.

"I don't think it's appropriate that a fellow like me who lives in Dublin and who goes down for weekends should have one. You cannot allow a situation where every Dubliner with more money in their pockets can have holiday homes in scenic areas."

The minister said that up to 80pc of applications for one-off houses in the countryside were being granted planning permission by local authorities.

Howeve, he said that people who were living or working in the countryside should be accommodated and that this was in line with the National Spatial Strategy.

The minister was asked about councillors in Co Kerry who were getting planning permissions after ignoring the advice of council planners and engineers, who had issued stark warnings that in many cases the houses would endanger public safety and cause serious traffic hazards risks.

The minister said that in general councillors should be guided by official advice.

In one case where the councillors overturned the refusal, the planned house had failed a septic tank percolation test.

One-off homes are at the centre of a bitter battle between, on the one hand, Rural Affairs Minister Eamon O'Cuiv and the country's councillors and, on the other, An Taisce and environmentalists concerned at their potentially devastating impact on the landscape and water quality.

The National Development Plan set a target for 500,000 new houses up to 2010. A total of 229,000 have already been built, the latest report also disclosed.

Victor

Pot. Kettle.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/02/20/story135116.html

Lobby group demands rural housing commission
20/02/2004 - 2:20:46 pm

A lobby group for rural development is calling on the Government to set up a rural housing commission to solve the issue of one-off housing.

The Irish Rural Link says environmental groups and planning experts should meet with the Government to produce a proper housing policy.

IRL spokesman Seamus Boland says the increase in holiday homes in the countryside is pushing up prices for locals and causing environmental problems.