Irish lust for one off housing

dilbert2

What is up with the Irish, particularly rural Irish lust for one off housing? I’m referring of course to the bungalows, and in more recent times – McMansions which dot the Irish landscape, and form lines of ribbon development over nearly eery road in the Irish countryside. When one goes on holidays to say France, Germany, the UK, Holland etc. you have towns and villages and in between countryside/ agriculture. In Ireland we just seem to build anywhere and everywhere. It’s even more of an issue considering how vulgar a lot of these houses look. Is there no consensus in this country regarding the countryside like there would be in other European countries? I also find it a national shame that our countryside has been thrashed, in most cases for farmers to pocket extra money, with one off housing becoming a form of cash crop.

Bullseye1

Most local authorities have strict planning guidelines on housing in rural areas. Unless your the son or daughter of a rural landowner you have little or no chance of getting planning. These bungalows you refer to are most likely family members who have grown up in the countryside. If we do not allow a certain percentage of people build then we kill rural life.

It's not like urban sustainability has been a raging success in this country either. Just look at Dublin and the sprawling housing eating into he countryside. The insistence of low level housing is killing any real chance of sustainability.

Doc Ruby

dilbert2 wrote: »

What is up with the Irish, particularly rural Irish lust for one off housing? I’m referring of course to the bungalows, and in more recent times – McMansions which dot the Irish landscape, and form lines of ribbon development over nearly eery road in the Irish countryside. When one goes on holidays to say France, Germany, the UK, Holland etc. you have towns and villages and in between countryside/ agriculture. In Ireland we just seem to build anywhere and everywhere. It’s even more of an issue considering how vulgar a lot of these houses look. Is there no consensus in this country regarding the countryside like there would be in other European countries? I also find it a national shame that our countryside has been thrashed, in most cases for farmers to pocket extra money, with one off housing becoming a form of cash crop.

Plenty of one off housing all throughout France. They'd do better to bulldoze those godawful 1970s apartment complexes. Its all across the US as well (hence the name), my brother picked up a bargain basement McMansion in Texas a couple of years ago, then bought a boxload of guns in the local Dunnes stores equivalent just to make me jealous.

So no its not an Irish thing, its a people thing, and maybe its understandable. Might not be the last word in sustainable development but I believe we should have the right to lived where and as we like once we can afford it.

Ghandee

Planning permissions in the north received a complete overhaul in the last few years, with practically no applications for countryside developments being approved unless your a son/daughter of the land owner, and you can prove you need the dwelling to assist in the family business (farming or otherwise)

My own family got full planning permission passed on a few plots of land before putting them up for sale, as otherwise they are no good to anyone unless you plan to farm it!

In fairness, anyone whose visited the north recently, and witnessed the vast monstrosities that have sprung up in some rural areas, I think the govt were 20 years too late at introducing these measures.

WesternZulu

What is wrong with it...I like it.
Just because other countries don't do it doesn't make it bad.

I think it adds somewhat to the countryside compared to the UK where there seems to be little or no relationship between where people live and the landscape around them.

dilbert2

WesternZulu wrote: »

I think it adds somewhat to the countryside

Yeah you're right, its adds eyesores to every single corner of the countryside.

compared to the UK where there seems to be little or no relationship between where people live and the landscape around them.

What are you talking about? If anything other countries value the countryside a lot more than we do because if we did we wouldn't be so quick to build cheap and horrible looking housing all over it that wouldn't look out of place in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bill Shock

Well said Op.

We haphazardly build houses in every nook and cranny and then whinge and whine at the poor quality of infrastructure....i.e. no matter where you build there's an automatic expectation to top quality roads, cheap connectivity to electricity/water and high speed broadband at the flick of a switch.

If we had a better planned approach to rural development all of these things would be easier to provide and could be done in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.

John_Rambo

No planning.

No community.

Drive everywhere.

Fat kids (from driving everywhere).

No amenities.

Ugly looking.

Leaky, undrained septic tanks.

The demise of the village.

"Designed" by the home owner, so it's impractical and silly.

WesternZulu

dilbert2 wrote: »

Yeah you're right, its adds eyesores to every single corner of the countryside.



What are you talking about? If anything other countries value the countryside a lot more than we do because if we did we wouldn't be so quick to build cheap horrible looking housing all over it.

It depends what you regard as cheap and horrible...like everything there are extremes but I cannot say I ever looked at a housing estate and said wow that is lovely it really compliments its surroundings.
Whereas I can honestly say I have said that for many houses in the countryside.

Think it depends where you are from, I am from the countryside, brought up in one of them "cheap horrible" houses you described and I have no problem with one off houses and when I do eventually settle down somewhere it will be in a one off house in the countryside.

Living in a housing estate when I do buy does not appeal to me one bit.

Doc Ruby

dilbert2 wrote: »

What are you talking about? If anything other countries value the countryside a lot more than we do because if we did we wouldn't be so quick to build horrible looking housing all over it that wouldn't look out of place in Phoenix, Arizona.

Why does this remind me of Ceaucescu's regime, where half the independent villages were knocked over and everyone was wedged into small grey flats?

And once again, its very far from limited to Ireland.

dilbert2

WesternZulu wrote: »

It depends what you regard as cheap and horrible...like everything there are extremes but I cannot say I ever looked at a housing estate and said wow that is lovely it really compliments its surroundings.
Whereas I can honestly say I have said that for many houses in the countryside.

Think it depends where you are from, I am from the countryside, brought up in one of them "cheap horrible" houses you described and I have no problem with one off houses and when I do eventually settle down somewhere it will be in a one off house in the countryside.

Living in a housing estate when I do buy does not appeal to me one bit.

Nothing to do with housing estates here. What is wrong with living in a village house like most people in rural areas in other countries do? Why the desire to go out into a field somewhere and build anew. Surely living in a village couldn't be too hard if people in other countries are more than capable of doing so.

dilbert2

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Why does this remind me of Ceaucescu's regime, where half the independent villages were knocked over and everyone was wedged into small grey flats?

And once again, its very far from limited to Ireland.

Yeah because the German/ French/ Dutch etc. countrysides and rural villages resemeble Ceaucescu's regime you plank. So one-off housing is the only way to go so :rolleyes:


mod: poster banned.

Doc Ruby

dilbert2 wrote: »

Yeah because the German/ French/ Dutch etc. countrysides and rural villages resemeble Ceaucescu's regime you plank. :rolleyes:

I genuinely doubt you have any experience of Germany, France or the Netherlands to be honest. As long as someone can pay for it, let them live where and as they like. Might not suit the mini mandarins and kommissars but sure what can you do.

Iwannahurl

I posted the attached image (with captions) in the Roads forum a while back.

It wasn't appreciated.

Attachment not found.

1. Typical landscape in the Barna/Furbo/Tonabrocky area, near the route of the Galway City Outer Bypass (GCOB). Unspoilt? See photo #5.

2. Typical rural road in the area, with long-established boundaries of mixed hedgerows and stone walls. The cluster of poles and wires indicates the growth of new housing development nearby.

3. Large “one-off” detached house on typically large site, still under construction, located in open bog landscape.

4. Typical farmland in the area. This particular stretch of rural road has seen the construction of several “one-off” houses in recent years.

5. Large detached house on elevated site, directly facing the scene in photo #1. The occupants of this house own at least two cars between them, as do many such households throughout County Galway.

6. Several large detached houses recently constructed on formerly rural boreen. Galway County Council practice for many years has been to require the setting back of the frontage of such properties. National guidelines since 2005, as set out in the policy document Sustainable Rural Housing: Guidelines for Planning Authorities state:

The removal of existing roadside boundaries, except to the extent that this is needed for a new entrance, should be avoided where at all possible except where required for traffic safety purposes. Roadside boundaries, whether hedgerows, sod and stone bank, stone wall or other boundaries, provide important features that are elements of both the landscape and ecology of rural areas. The retention of such boundary treatments assists in absorbing new rural housing into its surrounding and should generally be encouraged.

There is little or no evidence that these guidelines have had any impact on County Galway “one-off” construction in recent years.

7. Another narrow boreen featuring several “one-off” houses, some constructed within the last 3-5 years or even more recently. The surface and edges of the road – more likely a cart track, historically — have been damaged by traffic that it was never built to sustain.

8. Another boreen where the long-established boundary of hedgerows, earth banks and stone walls have been obliterated to make room for large detached sites and their frontages. The surface of this road is pitted with potholes, while the edges are crumbling to traffic passing in both directions. Such roads were never designed for regular car traffic of this nature, and maintaining them (wherever and whenever possible) is a major cost for the local authority.

9. According to the current Galway County development plan, the Council “acknowledges” that “some persons from urban areas seek a rural lifestyle with the option of working in and travelling to and from, nearby larger cities and towns.” These lifestyle-motivated urban rural dwellers evidently favour substantial detached properties far larger than the typical 105-125 sq metre semi-detached homes in the town or city, such as this split-level residence on an extensive elevated site west of Galway City.

10. One reason for the irreversible alteration of the rural landscape in County Galway: construction of massive houses on massive sites, such as this one. It is probably three to four times the size of an average house in Galway City, while the site is probably ten times bigger or more.

11. The Urban Rural Dwellers dream: huge grounds with space for cars, lawn, swing and trampoline.

12. Yet another example of the lifestyle being aspired to in the hinterland around the GCOB: massive house, extensive landscaped gardens, imposing gateway.

Stained Class

If they built estate houses with proper gardens & a bit of space around them & enough room to build a decent shed, people wouldn't be so anxious to move out of them & go for their own site.

Builders got greedy & crammed as many houses into one space that they could get away with.

Clareboy

Have to agree 100% with dilbert 2. Our traditional Irish landscapes have been totally ravaged in a generation by uncontrolled ribbon developement and the scourge of one off bungalows and mini-mansions.

I now feel ashamed to have to take visitors around my own area. They are expecting to see the ' unspoilt' countryside that Failte Ireland is always crowing about. The reality is a countryside blighted by gaudy bungalows in almost every field and vulgar trophy houses on the hillsides. An English visitor once asked me " Is there any planning in this country ? " . I had to tell him the truth " there is planning alright, but in Ireland, the flaunting of wealth is considered more important than any environmental or aesthetic considerations".

galwayrush

So, when did this one off housing begin.?. Apparently it's being going on for hundreds of years.:rolleyes:
So , looks like it's more traditional for this country.

dilbert2

Doc Ruby wrote: »

I genuinely doubt you have any experience of Germany, France or the Netherlands to be honest. As long as someone can pay for it, let them live where and as they like. Might not suit the mini mandarins and kommissars but sure what can you do.

Yet more lame strawmen. I like how you compare people living in villages as opposed to ribbon development as hoarding people into 20 storey communist tower blocks, hilarious. :rolleyes:

John_Rambo

galwayrush wrote: »

So, when did this one off housing begin.?. Apparently it's being going on for hundreds of years.:rolleyes:
So , looks like it's more traditional for this country.

Not really. More of a celtic tiger, keep up with the Jones's thing. Traditionally, the only people that lived like that had small holdings, cottages and worked the land. Farmers.

Doc Ruby

dilbert2 wrote: »

Yet more lame strawmen. I like how you compare people living in villages as opposed to ribbon development as hoarding people into 20 storey communist tower blocks, hilarious. :rolleyes:

So you're opposed to high density housing? That's a bit silly.

galwayrush

John_Rambo wrote: »

Not really. More of a celtic tiger, keep up with the Jones's thing. Traditionally, the only people that lived like that had small holdings, cottages and worked the land. Farmers.

Yeah, bastards wanted bigger and better modern houses.:rolleyes:
When we had more than double the population in this country , considering we had much smaller cities and towns, where did most of the the people live?

dilbert2

galwayrush wrote: »

So, when did this one off housing begin.?. Apparently it's being going on for hundreds of years.:rolleyes:
So , looks like it's more traditional for this country.

Eh no it hasn't, people were grouped into clachans and villages. It's a nice excuse though for allowing more one off housing, particulary in the pork barrell, parish pump gombeen rural elections where politicians seem to use these sort of excuses against people wishing to limit one off housing and convince the electorate that they too want more one off's to "keep the countryside alive" :rolleyes:.

dilbert2

galwayrush wrote: »

Yeah, bastards wanted bigger and better modern houses.:rolleyes:

Yeah, because such houses don't exist in towns and villages, people who want larger houses in other countries are crammed into tower blocks as opposed to owning larger properties in the towns and villages :rolleyes:

professore

There are plenty of one off houses in Belgium and the Netherlands, they are just much closer together due to the population density. Also all utilities have to be put in before building commences there.

Clareboy

galwayrush wrote: »

So, when did this one off housing begin.?. Apparently it's being going on for hundreds of years.:rolleyes:
So , looks like it's more traditional for this country.

One off housing started in the 1950s when the first of the ' new bungalows ' appeared in the landscape. Previously, only the farmers and the agricultural labourers lived in the countryside. The merchants, traders, tradesmen and professionals lived in the villages and towns.

There is nothing ' traditional' about some gaudy bungalow or some Georgian/Colonial mini mansion planked down in the middle of the countryside.

I think that the recent spate of building one-offs is a one-off for the simple fact that they were built on the back of cheap oil & cheap and available credit.

Cheap oil is gone and will never return, cheap and available credit is unlikely to ever return either as it was dependent on cheap fuel.

Many people who currently live in these more remote one-offs (more than 20km from a decent sized town) will find them virtually unsaleable in a few years due to the high costs associated with in living in remote rural areas far from services, shops & work etc.

Most of those that are just outside of town will be sustainable for a bit longer, but in many cases, owners will eventually find them too expensive to run and will leave.

I am of course referring to the McMansions, not to some of the more modest bungalows than some self builders have built with energy conservation in mind.

gigino

Clareboy wrote: »

I now feel ashamed to have to take visitors around my own area. They are expecting to see the ' unspoilt' countryside that Failte Ireland is always crowing about. The reality is a countryside blighted by gaudy bungalows in almost every field and vulgar trophy houses on the hillsides. An English visitor once asked me " Is there any planning in this country ? "

+1. In England, which has about 15 times our population, people live mostly in villages, towns + cities. Not in one off's in the countryside.

Our countryside is destroyed, as one American tourist once told me.

professore

Also there is much more variation allowed than here, where all are bungalows built with no taste or originality. All houses have to be designed by an architect

amacca

dilbert2 wrote: »

Nothing to do with housing estates here. What is wrong with living in a village house like most people in rural areas in other countries do? Why the desire to go out into a field somewhere and build anew. Surely living in a village couldn't be too hard if people in other countries are more than capable of doing so.

you know not everyone likes living side by side with their fellow humans

their fellow nosey jealous humans.........its nice to have a bit of space around you...its nice not to have to constantly pretend and make pleasantries and get a bit of peace and privacy...presumably if people are building these once off houses there is a desire for them (so not everyone agrees with you)...why should the people who are citizens of a country be dictated to as to where they choose to live be it city, town, village or countryside why do we have to pack them into ever more confined areas assuming that is the dwellings are properly built and not damaging the environment anymore than a typical urban house of the same time period and can be insulated properly etc.

is there some sort of consensus that one off housing is ugly? I for one prefer it to a lot of urban development

people live in the countryside in one off housing in other countries too although it is much more prevalent here..... in some of the countries where it is not prevalent large tracts of their countryside is owned by farming companies supporting fewer people than if their were family owned plots of land and the countryside is a place where a lot of the citizens of the country don't go very often....I think that's sad


+finally...I remember reading details of a study conducted on rats a number of years ago...the closer they had to live together (still adequately provided for individually in terms of food shelter etc) the more psychotic/aggressive/cannibalistic they became so perhaps we were not meant to be crushed into ever diminishing amounts of space

amacca

gigino wrote: »

Our countryside is destroyed, as one American tourist once told me.

well those are the guys I would go to if I required advice on good taste and decorum in fairness

was he or she sporting a bomber jacket and large billowing khaki pants with a big old camera dangling from the neck in case a leprecian was spotted in the vicinity?

John_Rambo

galwayrush wrote: »

Yeah, bastards wanted bigger and better modern houses.:rolleyes:
When we had more than double the population in this country , considering we had much smaller cities and towns, where did most of the the people live?

Well, you were wrong about your hundreds of years tradition, more modern houses, fair enough, but people are having smaller families, why they want these horrible isolated places is beyond me. To answer your question, people lived in villages and communities.

Otis Driftwood

OP,there is a drop in mortgage interest rates coming next week,dont worry,that one bed apartment you spent 400k on will soon pay for itself.

Stained Class

Ever notice how many of these McMansions have only about 2 or 3 people living in them?

dilbert2

Clareboy wrote: »

An English visitor once asked me " Is there any planning in this country ? " . .

I think that's part of the problem, it's clear to people from other countries what a disgrace the countryside is in this country. However, most people here don't really seem to understand the argument, and can't see that the countryside has been destroyed.

John_Rambo

Stained Class wrote: »

Ever notice how many of these McMansions have only about 2 or 3 people living in them?

And two cars, overweight children, nowhere to walk or cycle... not good. At least in villages and towns kids can walk or cycle to school, they are part of a community, people keep an eye out for each other etc...

I live in a suburb close to Dublin city and I get more exercise and fresh air to any of my rural friends that live in one off housing. They can't ever go to get a newspaper without getting in to their car.

Clareboy

amacca wrote: »

you know not everyone likes living side by side with their fellow humans

their fellow nosey jealous humans.........its nice to have a bit of space around you...its nice not to have to constantly pretend and make pleasantries and get a bit of peace and privacy...presumably if people are building these once off houses there is a desire for them (so not everyone agrees with you)...why should the people who are citizens of a country be dictated to as to where they choose to live be it city, town, village or countryside why do we have to pack them into ever more confined areas assuming that is the dwellings are properly built and not damaging the environment anymore than a typical urban house of the same time period and can be insulated properly etc.

is there some sort of consensus that one off housing is ugly? I for one prefer it to a lot of urban development

people live in the countryside in one off housing in other countries too although it is much more prevalent here..... in some of the countries where it is not prevalent large tracts of their countryside is owned by farming companies supporting fewer people than if their were family owned plots of land and the countryside is a place where a lot of the citizens of the country don't go very often....I think that's sad


+finally...I remember reading details of a study conducted on rats a number of years ago...the closer they had to live together (still adequately provided for individually in terms of food shelter etc) the more psychotic/aggressive/cannibalistic they became so perhaps we were not meant to be crushed into ever diminishing amounts of space

Surely you are not comparing us with rats! Why are Irish people afraid of others looking at them? What about the massive problem of rural isolation? You tell me! Our greatest failing as a nation has been our reluctance to urbanise.

amacca

Clareboy wrote: »

Surely you are not comparing us with rats! Why are Irish people afraid of others looking at them? What about the massive problem of rural isolation? You tell me! Our greatest failing as a nation has been our reluctance to urbanise.

why do you see it as a failing

I think other nations greatest failing is their continuing urbanisation

I think Dublin for the most part is a disgusting sprawling monstrosity

I think Tokyo, new york etc are horrible horrible places....aesthetically and almost every other way......people living in cities like tokyo want to get out of them take your ideal to its logical conclusion and rats are what the human race become....rats packed in ever diminshing amounts of space in huge urban areas.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

And two cars, overweight children, nowhere to walk or cycle... not good. At least in villages and towns kids can walk or cycle to school, they are part of a community, people keep an eye out for each other etc...

I live in a suburb close to Dublin city and I get more exercise and fresh air to any of my rural friends that live in one off housing. They can't ever go to get a newspaper without getting in to their car.

I live in a rural area and I can if I wanted to walk to two shops (10 or 20 minutes walk) and the children can ride bikes to school, but yes many of the one-offs are too far away from these services and are totally dependent on the car!

I'm better off living here than someone on one of those new estates in the sticks where they have nothing at all. These remote estates are a far worse travesty on the countryside than one-offs.

amacca

John_Rambo wrote: »

Wwhy they want these horrible isolated places is beyond me.

Of course its beyond you...you think rural areas are horrible and isolated.....not everyone is the same however

some people think rural areas are beautiful and peaceful and want to live in them.

John_Rambo

amacca wrote: »

their fellow nosey jealous humans.........its nice to have a bit of space around you...its nice not to have to constantly pretend and make pleasantries and get a bit of peace and privacy...presumably if people are building these once off houses there is a desire for them (so not everyone agrees with you)...why should the people who are citizens of a country be dictated to as to where they choose to live be it city, town, village or countryside why do we have to pack them into ever more confined areas assuming that is the dwellings are properly built and not damaging the environment anymore than a typical urban house of the same time period and can be insulated properly etc.

Lovely, "their nosey jealous humans"... I promise you, a one off house will impact the environment a lot more to build, insulate, wire up, keep, heat, pipe or tanks sewage etc... than a village or town development for a few families.

Cian92

John_Rambo wrote: »

And two cars, overweight children, nowhere to walk or cycle... not good. At least in villages and towns kids can walk or cycle to school, they are part of a community, people keep an eye out for each other etc...

I live in a suburb close to Dublin city and I get more exercise and fresh air to any of my rural friends that live in one off housing. They can't ever go to get a newspaper without getting in to their car.

So what? People don't choose where they live just so they can get adequate amounts of exercise. People living in one off housing probably have better places to go for walks, quiet boreens they can walk without ever bumping into somebody, without having to listen to nosy neighbours.

A friend of mine lives in a housing estate, recently they did up their house. There are people driving past very slowly trying to look in and see what they did. Who in Gods name wants to live in that sort of enivronment?

If I had to live in a housing estate, flat, or village centre I would go insane. It sounds like some sort of hell on earth if you ask me. People don't seem to know their neighbours, a sense of community is gone in a housing estate.

Also the noise, I can't sleep with the sound of traffic passing.

Give me my one off house in the countryside any day.

Wibbs

One off buildings I've no issue with. What I do have an issue with is the lack of taste and style common to the vast majority of them. Of course trying to get planning permission for something more interesting in design can be tricky.

dilbert2

Just another point, housing estates are been brought up a lot. Regardless of the deficiencies of housing estates they are still compressed into one area. One off housing is spread all over the place, and it's footprint is literally hundreds of times greater than housing estates given that is spread all over the countryside.

Also, to the poster who was justifying one off housing on the basis of living away from other people, I think a psychiatrist or counsellor would be what's needed in those situations, not a 3000 sq foot McMansion, destroying the countryside yet further.

As people have noted, people from other countries are more than aware of the damage that is been done. Yet, in this country there seems to be pig thick ignorance, particularly in rural Ireland about the issue. For instance, "if it's not one off housing, we'll be hoarded into the cities", failing to see that there is in fact such a thing as a village, that people in most other countries are more than happy to live in.

John_Rambo

amacca wrote: »

Of course its beyond you...you think rural areas are horrible and isolated.....not everyone is the same however

No, sorry, you picked me up wrong there silly. I meant the houses are horrible!! Not the areas. The areas are stunning, or rather were stunning until silly people started building their horrible mansions on them. Hopefully planning will tighten up and people won't be able to build on their land. The present ones might have to be knocked eventually. I see loads of half built or unfinished ones around.

John_Rambo

Cian92 wrote: »

People living in one off housing probably have better places to go for walks, quiet boreens they can wal

But, you and I know, they never do. They have to drive everywhere, schools, shops, pubs etc.

dilbert2

amacca wrote: »

Of course its beyond you...you think rural areas are horrible and isolated.....not everyone is the same however

some people think rural areas are beautiful and peaceful and want to live in them.

Ironically, they then proceed to destroy formely beautiful areas (which would be protected from development in other countries) with tacky, oversized and cheaply constructed "quanity - over - quality" villas. :rolleyes:

dilbert2

amacca wrote: »

why do you see it as a failing

I think other nations greatest failing is their continuing urbanisation

I think Dublin for the most part is a disgusting sprawling monstrosity

All cities have sprawl. What Dublin does have however, is a lot of it's historical and attractive housing from other centuries intact, and where new construction has taken place, it has been designed by legally qualified architects. There is literally no comparison with rural Ireland, which looks like a dispersed version of Phoenix, Arizona tacked onto a formely green landscape.

Cian92

John_Rambo wrote: »

But, you and I know, they never do. They have to drive everywhere, schools, shops, pubs etc.

I often do walk in quiet boreens.

I also always drive to the shop. If I was living a 10 minute walk from the shop and it started to rain (which it so often does) I would still drive, if it was quite cold i would also drive. If it was at night in a city, I would drive.

amacca

John_Rambo wrote: »

No, sorry, you picked me up wrong there silly. I meant the houses are horrible!! Not the areas.

No, I'm afraid you are the silly one in this instance (particularly when you call someone else silly)...what you typed was ambiguous at very best...you typed "horrible isolated places" that could easily be the place the house was built in so if I picked you up wrong it was because you couldn't express yourself properly.

John_Rambo wrote: »

Hopefully planning will tighten up and people won't be able to build on their land.

I have no problem with planning regulations but its plain to see what you mean by this is that people will not be able to build a dwelling on their own property anymore.........its not really their property then is it?

they pay for it, maintain it etc but you own it really when it comes down to it right?

amacca

dilbert2 wrote: »

Ironically, they then proceed to destroy formely beautiful areas

in your opinion...thankfully other people can still have opinions of their own.

John_Rambo

amacca wrote: »

I have no problem with planning regulations but its plain to see what you mean by this is that people will not be able to build a dwelling on their own property anymore.........its not really their property then is it?

Sorry I didn't express myself properly there. They can still own the land, but they can't just build whatever they want on it. And rightly so. The countryside is littered with silly one of uglies that don't encourage communities. Years ago rural Ireland was known for it's tight knit friendly communities. That's not the case any more in some places and it's down to bad planning.