Article for Farmers Journal in response to previous article critical of planners
Friday, July 13, 2007
Planners have been portrayed as causing pain: they are allegedly urban biased with little knowledge of rural issues or the needs of people living in rural Ireland. Furthermore, the Institute representing them is also biased because its two most recent presidents are not Irish .
It is simply untrue to suggest that planners are not familiar with the rural issues of Ireland. Many of the members of the Irish Planning Institute work for rural planning authorities and the two IPI Presidents mentioned are intimately familiar with Irish rural issues through their planning careers in this country.
What is also untrue is that planners make decisions on planning applications. The County Manager makes the decisions in the planning authority and An Bord Pleanala makes the decisions on appeal. In both cases, the planner only makes a recommendation.
However, it is correct to say that the Irish Planning Institute has expressed concern about the large number of one-off houses that are granted permission in many rural areas in Ireland and also with some of the policy guidelines contained in the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines. The IPI has expressed the view that there is a need for a clear presumption against urban generated one-off housing development in rural areas and that there should be a clear division between urban areas and their surrounding rural context. Not because of an urban bias but because of good planning.
The key issues can be summarised as follows. In many parts of Ireland, the pressure for one off housing is so high that it results in so-called ribbon development. This is a pattern of sprawling low density development with a suburban appearance in the rural area outside designated settlements.
This is a very damaging form of development for a number of reasons. These include the inefficiency of service delivery, increased demand for (car based) travel, a fragmentation of the countryside and loss of the open area of the landscape. This type of development, frequently in relatively close proximity to established towns and villages is very different to the occurrence of one off housing in rural remote areas where there is a pattern of population decline.
It is very important to point out that planners must base their assessment of planning applications on the Development Plan for the area. This Development Plan is adopted by the elected representatives. It therefore follows that the policy framework is determined by the development plan not by the individual treatment of a planning application.
The headline in the article states “This is our land”. But what does that mean? Can people in the city state that because they own part of the city they should be the only ones to determine how to use it? Are we not responsible for the care of the land that we must pass on to future generations? None of us can do what we want without the consent of others in any sphere of life, we all have to abide by the laws of the land made in the common good and in support of our constitution.
The debate about one-off housing touches on a very important aspect of planning. That is the idea of the “common good”. The open land, the scenic views, the quiet roads, these are aspects of the rural environment that are not owned by the individual property owners but by the local community or perhaps the Irish population as a whole.
Ultimately the issue is a simple one: what kind of Ireland do we want? This is a question that the article suggests should be answered by the people who own the land on which they want to build. It is a question the Irish Planning Institute thinks should be answered by everyone living in an area, not just the people living in the rural area or owning the land. The essence of planning is to protect the common good or public interest: the values that society as a whole determines are worth protecting.
Examples are: clean air and water, attractive rural areas, strong networks of settlements, good access to education and employment opportunities for all, a strong economy and tourist industry, well developed rural economies and well serviced rural communities, attractive shop fronts and streetscapes, safe roads, short distances to schools and shops, scenic views etc. All of these things cannot be bought or achieved overnight. They often require consistent policies over long periods of time.
An often used argument in favour of one-off housing is that it protects the viability of the rural community. People are leaving rural areas and unless people are allowed to build on their land, the risk is that the imbalance between urban and rural areas gets even worse. However, this argument ignores the fact that we have many rural villages which are often declining in population. One-off houses weaken the structure of our villages. Why don’t we build in or adjacent to villages?
Notwithstanding the fact that there are Ministerial guidelines and that each development plan can determine its policies on this issue, there appears to be a deep rooted concern that planners are not in favour of one off rural housing and that in taking this view, they are urban biased or even lack the relevant knowledge about Irish history and culture to appreciate the need for this form of development.
There is a general principle in the planning system that, if we are to protect the things that we think are important in our rural areas then, one-off houses should only be allowed where there is a housing need that is locally based, ie where it can be argued that the applicant needs to live in the local area. This principle is included in the Ministerial guidelines.
Most Development Plans adopt the rule that a family relationship (sometimes distant) constitutes housing need. Most Development Plans adopt policies that say that if there is urban generated housing, say the person works in the nearest town, the criterion of housing need is not complied with and therefore the house should not be allowed. These policies have been adopted by the elected representatives.
Departing from this policy can be regarded as unsustainable. By all means let’s have a debate on this topic. But it is not fair or right to blame the planners for the fact that decisions are made that are not in favour of those who have applied for the development.
By Hendrik W van der Kamp, President, Irish Planning Institute