Regulator recommendation on rural housing voted down by councillors
A request from the Officer of the Planning Regulator that aspiring house builders in rural locations first provide details of having examined alternative development sites close to town and village nodes was derided by local councillors and overruled by vote.
“I don’t know how people would even comply with that,” Fianna Fáil’s John Paul Feeley scorned the recommendation and pointed out that compliance measures for rural one-off housing are “distinct” in the draft CDP.
Senior planner for Cavan County Council, Nicholas O’Kane, explained that the recommendation was, if people were intending to move to a rural area, they would be asked to provide proof of where they had “explored” other site options closer to a main village or town.
But Cllr Feeley said it was creating an additional “burden and cost” on people.
Fine Gael’s Peter McVitty, who attended the draft CDP meeting virtually, asked if it was the policy of Cavan County Council to “see rural people move into the town” before they would give consideration to building in the countryside.
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Independent Shane P O’Reilly remarked loudly.
A vote to keep the chief executive’s recommendation based on what the planning regulator has suggested was put to a vote, with a unanimous outcome against.
The recommendation was a change from the existing plan, with Fine Gael’s Winston Bennett stating it was already “hard enough for people to build a house” in a rural area.
A second vote, to adopt the section without the recommendation was also voted through with unanimous support.
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