Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 543: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will review the planning guidelines for one off rural housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25951/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Among the core objectives of my Department's 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines for Planning Authorities is the need to maintain the rural fabric of society, secure more balanced regional development which will facilitate continued economic prosperity in both urban and rural locations and reverse population decline in remoter rural areas. Accordingly, the guidelines are aimed at achieving a balance between:

facilitating rural communities to meet their own internal housing requirements by allowing a certain number of new dwellings, and

avoiding large-scale and widespread suburbanisation of the countryside through a highly permissive approach to development of houses in rural areas close to the main cities and towns.

My Department will continue to monitor implementation of these sustainable rural planning policies to ensure an appropriate level of consistency in the application of the guidance across all counties.