People who want to build one-off houses in the countryside will not suddenly be allowed to build "on top of a mountain or beside a lake" in a scenic area, despite new planning guidelines, the Minister for the Environment has insisted.
Those with "rural links" are to be accommodated in the building of one-off houses in the countryside under the Sustainable Rural Housing guidelines published this morning. But Mr Cullen said the guidelines, which critics have already suggested will allow a 'free-for-all' in terms of one-off rural housing, will not allow for a "bungalow blitz".
Mr Cullen said there were areas of the countryside that needed to be repopulated and that issues such as tourism, new sources of income for those working in agriculture and other economic concerns had to be taken into account when considering planning applications for housing.
"People who are born in an area, who live in an area and who contribute to an area will be entitled to build their home in that area", Mr Cullen said. He said that in the interests of sustaining population levels in the future, planning authorities are "required under the guidelines to ensure that any demand for housing in rural areas which are suffering from population decline is, subject to good planning practice, accommodated".
"To those who might argue that these guidelines open the 'floodgates' by abandoning any sense of a planned approach to rural housing I would respond that it is more than reasonable that persons who are an intrinsic part of and contribute to the rural community should be accommodated by our planning system.
"The guidelines make it clear, however, that housing development in rural areas should complement rather than dominate its natural surroundings."
He said about one-third of people overall live in the countryside, with a much higher proportion than that in some parts, especially the midlands and the west. "People will continue to live in rural areas for the foreseable future," he said. "We owe it to rural communities to support the future vibrancy of all rural areas."
On so-called Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), designated as such for their scenery, wildlife or other environmental value, Mr Cullen said he did not believe the planning authorities should "prevent anything from happening" in those areas. Ireland had a need for sustainable energy, such as wind farms. However, he said he was "not suggesting for one minute that you turn around and you concrete over SACs".
Mr Cullen said he did not want to see a "bungalow blitz" as it has been referred to in the media. But the guidelines took account of a changing environment, he said. The minister said the "necessary environmental safeguards" would continue to be implemented. However, he was satisfied that previous guidelines on rural housing "have sometimes be operated over-rigidly, in a way that has not always been in the best interests of the rural community".
He said the new policy was "not a panacea for everybody to do what they like" and he urged those looking for planning permission to seek advice from architects. He added that applicants for housing in rural areas must still meet normal planning requirements in relation to matters such as the proper disposal of waste water and road safety. The guidelines also include recommendations concerning site selection and design of rural houses.
Mr Cullen said he did not want to see clusters of rural housing being used for just two weeks of the year as holiday homes. Questioned on one-off housing and strings of bungalows along stretches of scenic coastline, he said that just because there was housing along the coastline didn't mean "there's something wrong with it".
The minister has ordered planning authorities and An Bord Pleanala to take the guidelines "on board" straight away, although they are still in draft form and subject to a public consultation process.
The guidelines can be downloaded at www.environ.ie or www.irishspatialstrategy.ie