Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Seanad for arranging to take statements today on this issue and welcome the opportunity to outline for the Members of this House the provisions of the new guidelines on sustainable rural housing which I published last week. People have lived in rural areas in Ireland for a long time. About one third of our people overall live in the countryside. In some parts of the country, a much higher proportion of people than that live in the countryside, especially in parts of the midlands and in the west. People will continue to live in rural areas for the foreseeable future. We owe it to rural communities to support the future viability of all rural areas.

The guidelines have two main objectives. First, their implementation through the planning system will facilitate people who have roots or links to the rural community and are part of or contribute to that community in getting planning permission for their housing proposals, subject to normal planning requirements. Second, in the interests of sustaining population levels in the future, planning authorities are required under the guidelines to ensure that any demand for housing in rural areas suffering from population decline is, subject to good planning practice, accommodated.

Recognising that the circumstances in different rural areas vary depending on whether they are, for example, near a large urban area or are very remote, the guidelines outline the planning policies which planning authorities need to incorporate in their development plans to respond to these different circumstances. In rural areas close to larger urban areas, such as the gateways and hubs identified in the national spatial strategy, policies need to be directed towards achieving well-planned residential development which avoids urban sprawl. In remoter rural areas where there are relatively few towns and villages the emphasis is on respecting and consolidating the traditional forms and patterns of housing development. In stronger rural areas development plan policies must strike a balance between accommodating proposals for individual houses and stimulating housing development in smaller towns and villages. This is necessary to ensure a balanced range of choices in new housing development. I want to emphasise again, however, that the guidelines are based on a presumption that people who have roots in or links to rural areas and are part of and contribute to the rural community will get planning permission for houses, provided that they meet the normal planning requirements.

The draft guidelines are far-reaching. For the first time they provide a policy framework setting out in detail how Government policy on rural housing as set out in the national spatial strategy is to be taken forward by local authorities in planning more effectively for rural areas. The guidelines deal with how development plans can support the development needed to sustain rural communities, how development can be guided and facilitated at the right locations and how planning policies should be tailored to respond to the different circumstances in different areas.

I want planning authorities to adopt a much more positive and pro-active approach in dealing with rural housing. They should act as facilitators in bringing together the elected members, officials, farming and community organisations, organisations representing rural dwellers, environmental organisations and the wider public to create a shared view of how rural housing is to be addressed. The development plan is adopted in a democratic manner and public ownership of it is paramount.

For the individual applicant for planning permission the guidelines provide extensive guidance to help them through the process of obtaining permission without delay. The information which planning authorities require is outlined, as are the sources of that information. The guidelines call for applicants to be treated sensitively and courteously by planning authorities. Today when there is much emphasis on the quality of service which public authorities provide I want planning authorities to take as constructive an approach as possible in helping applicants through the process of obtaining permission. In this regard, I am examining the possibility of publishing a leaflet or brochure to complement the guidelines I have already published and to provide further assistance to applicants in taking their proposals through the planning process.

I have heard and read views to the effect that the guidelines will open the floodgates by abandoning any sense of a planned approach to rural housing. My response to those views is that it is more than reasonable that persons who are an intrinsic part of and contribute to the rural community should be accommodated by our planning system. The guidelines make it clear, however, that housing development in rural areas should complement rather than dominate its natural surroundings. I have seen very good examples in many parts of the country of this being achieved. The site for a new house in a rural area should allow it to "settle into and integrate with its surroundings" to quote from an excellent rural design guide recently published by Cork County Council.

The guidelines also make it clear that protecting water quality must be a leading consideration in determining whether sites are suitable for development. Where sites are to be developed, waste water systems must be designed, installed and monitored to ensure that they operate and continue to operate to the required standards. I am considering whether additional measures to ensure that septic tanks and other waste water systems are monitored and maintained regularly are necessary.