Regulations restricting the granting of planning permission on rural lands adjoining some national roads have been slammed by a member of Kerry County Council.
Councillor Michael Cahill was speaking after Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) responded to a query he submitted on the issue.
In his original query, Cahill called on TII and An Bord Pleanála to “give due and fair consideration to landowners’ sons and daughters who apply to build a family home on family owned lands on existing roads whereby no new entrance or exit will be required”.
According to the Fianna Fáil councillor, these people are “being discriminated against, particularly where entrance and exists already exist”.
Responding to Cahill’s query, TII acknowledged that individuals are “often understandably anxious” to obtain planning permission, but that there were “underlying concerns on the state’s part about safety and incremental erosion of the effectiveness of the road network”.
TII pointed out that current planning guidelines are based on the ‘Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ which were issued in 2012 after a government review.
Any review by TII of planning applications involving new or intensified access to the national road network is based on those guidelines.
For national roads where the speed limit is above 60km/h, these guidelines say that the policy of the planning authority will be to avoid the creation of any additional access point, or the generation of increased traffic from existing access points.
This rule applies to all types of development, including individual houses in rural areas.
Reacting to this communication from TII, Cahill said: “Apparently, [the government of Enda Kenny] issued these guidelines back in 2012, which in effect say that unless you own land on the edge of a town or village within a 60km/h speed limit, you will never receive planning permission for a home for you or your family members.”
The councillor added: “This is having a catastrophic effect, especially on farmers’ sons and daughters whose families own lands adjacent to national primary and secondary roads.
“I am calling on [the government] to immediately withdraw these outrageous and discriminatory guidelines.”
Cahill said that he has requested a meeting with both TII and An Bord Pleanála in relation to the matter.
“The people of Ireland are entitled to make a home for themselves and their families and these restrictions are non-sensical,” he said.