One off housing...

mikemac1 · 03-07-2012 10:47PM

Where To wrote: »

It's an Irish person's birthright to plant their house in the middle of nowhere, be entitled to water, sewerage, electricity, 100Mbs broadband, bin collections, low motor tax, two lane dual carriageway right to their front door, postal delivery right into the front living room, and a school, postoffice, McDonalds and a 24 hour garda station within five minutes walk.

And woe betide any government that attempts to charge them for any of this.

You either pay for a group scheme or you paid for your own well. People were paying for water already while some Ireland now whinges over water charges.

You install your own septic tank and now they want you to pay to get it inspected. Do people in towns pay extra to the council?

When you build a house you have to pay ESB Networks to connect you, this will be least 2,000 euro and probably more. And you then pay a higher rate

No 100mb broadband as there is no cable. You either pay Eircom or you go satellite, I don't know a lot about the technical aspects of satellite

Bin collections, rural people were paying this for years while Joe Higgins and his salt of da earth supporters were whinging when DCC decided to charge. Why did they feel they didn't have to pay when councils around Ireland were already charging and outsourcing to private companies.

Motor tax is the same rates for everyone.

No dual carragieway but there is a bus service.

It operates one day a week to bring the pensioners to town as your post office is closed. And the garda station closed 10 years ago
No Luas, Dart or Bus Éireann, just one bus a week

And Where To, I'm paying for your streetlights! :pac:

galwayrush · 03-07-2012 10:49PM

Bambi wrote: »

thats grand, you're right to get away from it all. And as soon as we cut your electrics, water, sewage, phone lines and road maintenance you will be away from it all.

enjoy!

Give me 700 K for mine and you can cut off whatever you like from it.:p

Where To · 03-07-2012 10:58PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

And Where To, I'm paying for your streetlights! :pac:

Unless you are claiming ownership of the Moon I highly doubt that :pac:

eth0 · 03-07-2012 11:19PM

charlemont wrote: »

On very narrow roads / unnamed roads of course !! No footpaths or public lighting either.

Nothing wrong with that, and public lighting is a fcuking nuisance. Only there to give Joe Duffy callers a false sense of security while all it really does is save the scumbags the trouble of carrying a flashlight. Terrible colour light off them things too, it's almost worth boarding the windows to keep it out.

I love a good one-off house, not to be mistaken from ould Celtic Tiger slap-up for 799,000e built of nothing but cavity blocks with a massive slab of tarmac around it. Feck 'services' too, there is always satellite internet and a diesel generator + used chip oil if needs be.

ChippingSodbury · 03-07-2012 11:31PM

FanadMan wrote: »

It's not a result of bad planning - not everyone wants to live in an estate with hundreds of houses that look the same, not able to go outside without curtains twitching, things getting stolen from your back yard.

What I think is worse looking are all those ghost estates, some partially populated with building sites for neighbours.

Give me rural peace anytime over urban sprawl - at least in the countyside you have good neighbours

In fairness FanadMan, given your username, I'm sure you're fairly familiar with Gaoth Dobhair. When you look down on the valley, it looks like a giant took a fistful of lego houses and flung them out. There is no "village/ town centre" either which, in my opinion, is a real pity. I think it's a real advert for the need for good planning.
I think if people grow up in an urban area, they just don't get the idea of country living: good (and some bad) neighbours but at least you know who they are, a sense of community, peace and quiet etc.

breadmonster · 03-07-2012 11:44PM

Well i think estates with all the same houses should never been allowed to happen. Disgusting looking 3 bed semis all over the place. developers should never have been allowed build these things.

Take a random street in ireland (no offence if you live there)

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&ll=53.288743,-8.986305&spn=0.000051,0.038409&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.288743,-8.986305&panoid=Y8O1wBg4hKBzDGJBTy9Y-g&cbp=12,38.91,,0,4.53

and then a random street in sydney - try find any house that looks the same as another one (have a drive around courtesy of google maps).
Its actually possible to build one off housing in a planned way imagine that!!

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=sydney&hl=en&ll=-33.92196,151.235132&spn=0.008867,0.019205&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=6.475044,19.665527&hnear=Sydney+New+South+Wales,+Australia&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=-33.921929,151.234855&panoid=RnE03bpg4Ve5luhEO6FJpA&cbp=12,237.9,,0,-2.3

oppenheimer1 · 03-07-2012 11:48PM

hondasam wrote: »

If I wanted neighbours I would live in a town. Do you live in a city/town?

Do you want schools, gardai, hospitals, broadband, water, electricity, roads. I take it you mustn't have wanted those when you decided not to live in a town and are happy with the limited service provided to you.

Certainly you wouldn't complain about them.

hondasam · 03-07-2012 11:50PM

breadmonster wrote: »

Well i think estates with all the same houses should never been allowed to happen. Disgusting looking 3 bed semis all over the place. developers should never have been allowed build these things.

Take a random street in ireland (no offence if you live there)

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&ll=53.288743,-8.986305&spn=0.000051,0.038409&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.288743,-8.986305&panoid=Y8O1wBg4hKBzDGJBTy9Y-g&cbp=12,38.91,,0,4.53

and then a random street in sydney - try find any house that looks the same as another one (have a drive around courtesy of google maps).
Its actually possible to build one off housing in a planned way imagine that!!

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=sydney&hl=en&ll=-33.92196,151.235132&spn=0.008867,0.019205&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=6.475044,19.665527&hnear=Sydney+New+South+Wales,+Australia&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=-33.921929,151.234855&panoid=RnE03bpg4Ve5luhEO6FJpA&cbp=12,237.9,,0,-2.3

Galway looks better imo.

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Do you want schools, gardai, hospitals, broadband, water, electricity, roads. I take it you mustn't have wanted those when you decided not to live in a town and are happy with the limited service provided to you.

Certainly you wouldn't complain about them.

I have all these things only I have to drive to them as do people who live in towns. I have water, electricity, roads and broadband.

starbelgrade · 03-07-2012 11:55PM

breadmonster wrote: »

Well i think estates with all the same houses should never been allowed to happen. Disgusting looking 3 bed semis all over the place. developers should never have been allowed build these things.

Take a random street in ireland (no offence if you live there)

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&ll=53.288743,-8.986305&spn=0.000051,0.038409&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=53.288743,-8.986305&panoid=Y8O1wBg4hKBzDGJBTy9Y-g&cbp=12,38.91,,0,4.53

and then a random street in sydney - try find any house that looks the same as another one (have a drive around courtesy of google maps).
Its actually possible to build one off housing in a planned way imagine that!!

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=sydney&hl=en&ll=-33.92196,151.235132&spn=0.008867,0.019205&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=6.475044,19.665527&hnear=Sydney+New+South+Wales,+Australia&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=-33.921929,151.234855&panoid=RnE03bpg4Ve5luhEO6FJpA&cbp=12,237.9,,0,-2.3

While I would agree that many housing estates in Ireland are devoid of any architectural merit, I have serious misgivings about much of the architecture in Sydney, which is for a large part, a badly mixed, mish-mash of architectural styles from different eras, styles and places.

The streetview you linked here shows exactly that - a random mix of rather ugly low-rise houses with no outstanding qualities or merits of any description. The only thing which really saves that area is the liberal use of street landscaping.

Also, if you look properly, there are several houses on that street which are the exact same, complete with lovely faux columns to the front.

eth0 · 04-07-2012 12:01AM

starbelgrade wrote: »

Also, if you look properly, there are several houses on that street which are the exact same, complete with lovely faux columns to the front.

Not as lovely as a faux dormer though

breadmonster · 04-07-2012 12:05AM

hondasam wrote: »

Galway looks better imo.

Your missing the point im trying to make. Not everybody wants to live in the same house as there neighbours. why have an estate with 50 of the same houses.

hondasam · 04-07-2012 12:10AM

breadmonster wrote: »

Your missing the point im trying to make. Not everybody wants to live in the same house as there neighbours. why have an estate with 50 of the same houses.

I think 50 of the same houses in an estate looks better than 50 random houses.

Your link was an estate compared to one street. it's not the same.

I think the OZ houses are terrible in that link shabby and run down.

breadmonster · 04-07-2012 12:35AM

hondasam wrote: »

I think 50 of the same houses in an estate looks better than 50 random houses.

Your link was an estate compared to one street. it's not the same.

I think the OZ houses are terrible in that link shabby and run down.

ok yes the oz link is a pretty crap area but my point was that you can have vareity in different houses. i guess i have a thing about estates in general maybe they should have been just planned streets instead with plots for single houses on each of them.

FanadMan · 04-07-2012 02:13AM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Do you want schools, gardai, hospitals, broadband, water, electricity, roads. I take it you mustn't have wanted those when you decided not to live in a town and are happy with the limited service provided to you.

Certainly you wouldn't complain about them.

Hold on - I grew up in an area where I had to travel 10 mins by bus to school, I turned the tap and water came out (and beautiful clean water not like the recycled piss you get in towns and cities), I flick a switch and guess what....the light comes on! As for the gardai, wouldn't matter if they lived next door to me, you phone them anywhere in Ireland and it takes nearly an hour for them to arrive. Only downside to your arguement is the hospital - 25 miles away. But having lived in Dublin and a few cities outside Ireland, the traffic can make a 5 minute drive the same as me driving to my nearest hospital.

So, in the end....I live in an area with nice law-abiding neighbours, clean air, freedom to let a child outside without having to put a tracker on them, freedom to let a dog roam free without worry. Have miles of walks without having to side-step to avoid someone. As for the houses, at least each one in my area has a personality of their own unlike the ugly replicants you see in towns and cities.

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

In fairness FanadMan, given your username, I'm sure you're fairly familiar with Gaoth Dobhair. When you look down on the valley, it looks like a giant took a fistful of lego houses and flung them out. There is no "village/ town centre" either which, in my opinion, is a real pity. I think it's a real advert for the need for good planning.
I think if people grow up in an urban area, they just don't get the idea of country living: good (and some bad) neighbours but at least you know who they are, a sense of community, peace and quiet etc.

Yeah, do agree with you about Gaoth Dobhair - it is freaky looking at it from the hills. It's almost like a town without a street lol. But it was always going to be a densely populated area with children wanting to build houses near the parents.

But as you said, there is a sense of community there. I bet if there was a break-in there, all the neighbours would be on the look out for weeks after. Def not the same in a city where you could spend years in an estate without even speaking to you next door neighbour.

As it is, I'm happy to drive 15 minutes to get to an ATM or decent shop. If things go the way I hope, I'll never leave here and at least I'll be happy

In saying that, I didn't grow up in an estate - I'm sure that people that have love where they are

kowloon · 04-07-2012 03:01AM

Where To wrote: »

It's an Irish person's birthright to plant their house in the middle of nowhere, be entitled to water, sewerage, electricity, 100Mbs broadband, bin collections, low motor tax, two lane dual carriageway right to their front door, postal delivery right into the front living room, and a school, postoffice, McDonalds and a 24 hour garda station within five minutes walk.

And woe betide any government that attempts to charge them for any of this.

My folks have the one highlighted in bold. The post is four days a week, so you can have that too, although it only makes it to the mailbox or the front garden. They can't get broadband. Bin collections had to be paid for before bin charges came in. The locals fill the dangerous potholes themselves, there's been more than one crash because of them. There's a school in the nearest town. No Post Office, McDonalds or Garda Station.

Water and sewerage had to be installed by them at great expense, the government plan to charge them to have this inspected.

FanadMan · 04-07-2012 03:16AM

kowloon wrote: »

No Post Office, McDonalds or Garda Station.

Glad I don't live in a town or city - McD food is a waste of cooking oil and gas!

Jester252 · 04-07-2012 05:58AM

Gotta say that I love being on a private water scheme.
Before when Ireland got its one hot week and the water level drop the water was cut off to feed the city. Now it stays on as I'm paying for it. Gotta love that

flas · 04-07-2012 07:12AM

Do the posters here from the countryside really think people who grew up in estates dont know who there neighbours are and that there was no sense of community in them,etc?i grew up in an estate in a town and i knew every single one of my neighbours,could stay out late playing hide and seek or footbball without fear of anything bad happening,if any of the neighbours wanted anything in shops they would call us over and give us the money to run to the shop for them and give us money for sweets for doing so...nearly everyone i was in school with grew up in a simular estate and knew all their neighbours!all the aminities any child could ask for were within walking distance from us,it was great!my girlfriend grew up in the countryside,which she thought was great but reckins after living in both now she could never go back to being miles from everything!another thing she couldnt get her head around is the relationship we have with our neighbours,the ones in the countryside are very clannish she reckons!

04-07-2012 08:02AM

First world problems.. I want to enjoy the countryside for it's scenery once a year on my drive to the Galway Races but there's people living in houses everywhere.

Oh what a shlt country.

Chinasea · 04-07-2012 08:04AM

04-07-2012 08:26AM

Chinasea wrote: »

A bit exposed. :eek:
Someone with a brown envelope in their back pocket, no doubt.:rolleyes:

CruelCoin · 04-07-2012 09:13AM

CB19Kevo wrote: »

All over this island, One thing that i feel takes away from the natural scenery is houses dotted along the roads often times 10 or plus miles from an urban area..
What makes it worse is these buildings are often of bad design/finish.
(If they were finished in stone/wood cladding they might sit back).

It is a result of bad planning but it is here now, Does anyone else cringe at these buildings? and short of nuking all these structures anyone have any better ideas moving into the future?

No more hideous than the forest of concrete and steel we call villages/towns/cities.

Each to their own OP.

I'm not very partial to constantly breathing air that reeks of burger king.

Nippledragon · 04-07-2012 10:49AM

Planning should be done by the properly qualified people eg. Architects primarily and Engineers.

So many planners have arts degrees in completely irrelevant fields. The result is the current countryside. So many people call themselves architects when they are not.

Cork county council released a fantastic local planning guide a few years ago - the whole country's co.councils should have adopted it. It preserved the countryside by promoting good architectural design (vernacular) that responded to its context in a low-impact manner.

Country side is ruined with white boxes with massive flat lawns that are rip-off's from some book - slightly amended to avoid copyright issues.

The boom is a direct reflection of this - look how big my house is on the site I own, and don't forget to look at my fancy car too.

Nothingbetter2d · 04-07-2012 10:54AM

Nippledragon wrote: »

Planning should be done by the properly qualified people eg. Architects primarily and Engineers.

So many planners have arts degrees in completely irrelevant fields. The result is the current countryside. So many people call themselves architects when they are not.

Cork county council released a fantastic local planning guide a few years ago - the whole country's co.councils should have adopted it. It preserved the countryside by promoting good architectural design (vernacular) that responded to its context in a low-impact manner.

Country side is ruined with white boxes with massive flat lawns that are rip-off's from some book - slightly amended to avoid copyright issues.

The boom is a direct reflection of this - look how big my house is on the site I own, and don't forget to look at my fancy car too.

many cities and towns are littered with poorly built shoeboxes that will fall apart in 50 years or less. where as those countryside big houses will last hundreds of years if maintained properly. :rolleyes:

Robbo · 04-07-2012 11:33AM

Have we had the false dichotomy yet that if you think one off housing isn't the bestest thing ever, you're content to life in a Stalinist 20 story block of flats with hot and cold running junkies?

Nippledragon · 04-07-2012 11:43AM

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

many cities and towns are littered with poorly built shoeboxes that will fall apart in 50 years or less. where as those countryside big houses will last hundreds of years if maintained properly. :rolleyes:

Yes and no to that point. Good design should involve more than something looking pretty. I have seen some terrible workmanship on lots of "shoeboxes" in the countryside too, and I mean terrible. One set of houses (that should never have got permission IMHO) had the sinks fixed to the underside of the counter-tops with tile off-cuts and tile adhesive. One of them is now for sale for 600,000 euros.

Greed has also added to the problem. If our councils/gov had capped the amount of housing being built during the boom we might still have houses being built. The whole area of planning needs a complete overhaul.

scdublin · 04-07-2012 11:44AM

Yep notice them all the time...some of them are so out of place it just looks awful!

Nothingbetter2d · 04-07-2012 11:46AM

Nippledragon wrote: »

Yes and no to that point. Good design should involve more than something looking pretty. I have seen some terrible workmanship on lots of "shoeboxes" in the countryside too, and I mean terrible. One set of houses (that should never have got permission IMHO) had the sinks fixed to the underside of the counter-tops with tile off-cuts and tile adhesive. One of them is now for sale for 600,000 euros.

Greed has also added to the problem. If our councils/gov had capped the amount of housing being built during the boom we might still have houses being built. The whole area of planning needs a complete overhaul.

the biggest problem in ireland is the fact that the councils DO NOT inspect new houses during the construction phase... this is why so many cowboy builders got away with it.

in the uk the councils routinely send out inspectors many times during the construction phase of buildings. The irish councils really need to start doing this too.

hondasam · 04-07-2012 11:54AM

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

the biggest problem in ireland is the fact that the councils DO NOT inspect new houses during the construction phase... this is why so many cowboy builders got away with it.

in the uk the councils routinely send out inspectors many times during the construction phase of buildings. The irish councils really need to start doing this too.

The council in Ireland are to blame for the worst houses ever built probably due to hiring cowboy builders.

04-07-2012 12:02PM

I`d rather live in one of those bungalows than in most urban parts of Dublin, Limerick, Cork or Waterford.

The real problem is the pathetic size and look of the lego like 3 bed and smaller houses in urban areas. Anyone who wants a bit of modest room in a house needs to get a one off.

One off housing...

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