Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Senator McHugh. I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome the guidelines on rural planning. To start where Senator Brennan finished, 105 submissions were received. I was disappointed as I thought there would be more than this on an issue as major as rural planning. I welcome the guidelines, nonetheless, and I hope they go some way towards rectifying the anomalies involved with rural house planning. I hope it will achieve one thing, at least, namely, remove the inconsistencies. People are rightly irritated when they see others getting planning permission for similar developments for which they have been refused. Councillors are fuming as well. Nobody can explain why this happens. Planning officials just want to move on to the next application, regardless. No answers are given as to why permission was granted or refused for a particular development while the converse has happened in the case of a similar proposal for a location beside it. People are infuriated.

The Minister has not alluded to ribbon development in his speech. Some rural areas with small holdings of land have limited access to county roads, yet there is a considerable amount of ribbon development in places. There are arguments for and against this. The Minister says that road safety etc. must be taken into account. If people living in rural areas have only limited access to county roads, I do not have a problem if we are to be even-handed as regards rights, even if it means ribbon development in some areas.

I am delighted the Minister has included guidelines for roof types and roof colours and the types of windows which may be used. Some planning authorities have been far too rigorous as regards those issues and in many cases have refused planning permission for the proposed type or colour of the roof or window. This should not be a major problem as regards planning. The Minister said that in the stronger rural areas the guidelines call for development plan policies to strike a balance between accommodating proposals for individual houses and stimulating new housing development in smaller towns and villages, in order to ensure a balanced range of options for new housing development. I presume this is to be inserted into every county development plan. As we all know the county development plan is the main benchmark to be adhered to by the planning officials. How realistic is that part of the Minister's speech? Will the planning authorities use that broad statement to grant or refuse applications? I appreciate and welcome the Minister's assertion that he will hold seminars around the country. All too often we have seen how a majority of planning officials are as one when it comes to refusing certain types of application. The proposed seminars will be helpful, but as regards this aspect of the Minister's speech, I believe it leaves planning officials with an option to refuse applications in rural areas on the grounds that there may be a more appropriate cluster or village development in which to live — against the wishes of the particular rural community or applicant.