An overhaul of planning guidelines for one-off rural housing must ensure that young people can stay in rural Ireland, according to Macra.
The farming organisation called on the government to act urgently as young people in rural Ireland are “considering all their options” and many will choose to leave for “foreign shores”.
Macra said that the draft national guidelines had been due to be published prior to Christmas for public consultation but have been delayed once more.
The existing national guidelines for planning authorities on Sustainable Rural Housing were published in April 2005 by then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche.
Macra president John Keane said that the guidelines must make youth sustainability in rural areas a priority.
“It it has been two decades since the guidelines have been reviewed and revised.
“Rural Ireland is changing and everything must be done to ensure that youth can prosper all across rural Ireland,” he said.
Rural Ireland
During 2021 and 2022 Macra consulted with its members around the country on the issue of planning and housing development.
The organisation said that “a clear message emerged” that guidelines must be consistent and should ensure that people who want to live and work in rural Ireland can do so “without endless amounts of red tape and hoops to jump through”.
John Keane said that Macra wants to see the draft guidelines published immediately as it is now four months since they were initially due.
In response to a recent commencement matter raised by Senator Victor Boyhan in the Seanad, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Kieran O’Donnell, said updated rural housing guidelines were currently being prepared by his department.
The minister said that there had been “important changes” to the planning system since the publication of the existing guidelines.
“The guidelines are at an advanced stage of drafting and strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment relating to the impact of the proposed guidelines on the environment as required by EU legislation, are nearing finalisation.
“It is intended that draft guidelines will be published for a period of public consultation in quarter two, 2023,” Minister O’Donnell said.