Draft Minutes 13th Oct - Fingal County Council

2012
The following report by the Manager which had been circulated was
CONSIDERED:
CONSIDERED:
CONSIDERED:
“The site is zoned RU in the Draft Development Plan and has an area of some 0.46
ha. The site is located approximately 1.5km from the northern edge of Ballyboghil.
The site was the subject of one planning application. Reg.Ref F07A/1440 and An
Bord Pleanála Ref 227649 permission refused for a single house for the following
reasons, contrary to RU zoning objective, ribbon development, visual
amenity/design, and public health (unsuitability of site for septic tank due to high
water table).
The rural settlement strategy in the Draft Plan reflects the policy adopted by the
Council on the 3 rd April 2007, following a lengthy process of careful consideration
and public consultation. The policy as it now stands recognises the need to
provide for housing for the rural community but limits the amount of housing in
the open countryside and provides for alternative options within the rural area
either in the villages or rural clusters as a more sustainable and suitable location
for rural generated housing. Areas which are particularly sensitive to ongoing
incremental housing growth, i.e. the Greenbelt and High Amenity zoned areas, are
limited to more essential needs with the broader rural community who wish to
remain in the rural area qualifying for housing in villages and rural clusters.
Allowing certain individuals to be excluded from this policy would contradict this
overall approach.
This motion would unfairly allow certain individuals to be favourably treated in
comparison to all other families with connections within the rural area.
The motion if adopted would allow the sale of the site on the open market, thereby
opening up the possibility of urban-generated housing development on the site.
Government policy as articulated by the National Spatial Strategy and the
Sustainable Rural Housing: Guidelines for Planning Authorities of April 2005,
classifies the rural area of Fingal as “an area under strong urban influence”
where the housing requirements of the rural community should be facilitated but
urban-generated housing should be directed to areas zoned for new residential
development in cities, towns and villages. This approach is reflected in the
Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area (5.2.2). The inclusion in
the Fingal Development Plan of objectives facilitating the development of rural
housing outside of the provisions of the rural settlement strategy would thus run
counter to national and regional policy.
Finally, Strategic Policy No. 12, adopted by the Council in October 2009, is to: