Sir, – If the word “garden” is absent from the Government’s Housing for All blueprint (“The Irish Times view on the debate on smaller gardens: prune with care”, August 6th), this shows a complete disregard for the climate emergency, the desperate need in Ireland for biodiversity, and people’s need of green space for health and happiness.
What about some imaginative planning, for instance a completely new and self-sufficient city based on the principles of the Garden City movement, combining industry, services and agriculture, including allotments for people to grow fruit and vegetables?
Let’s have some housing plans that design for a safe and healthy future. – Yours, etc,
TRICIA CUSACK,
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Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The reduction of living space continues inexorably in our society where open space that is not being commercially used is considered “dead”.
The first casualty of this trend was when the requirement that developers had to provide public recreational open space in proportion to the volume of houses being built was replaced by a financial contribution to the local council.
Now it is proposed by developers to reduce family garden space that they have noticed that is not being used to its full potential.
Soon developers will be proposing the paradigm of the beehive or the ant-hill as a model for human living. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Guatemala City.
Sir, – Looking into the near-future, I envisage removing boundary back walls and fences to save a further few centimetres. The houses could then be built even closer to allow good neighbours to lean out to water one another’s window boxes when absent. Another innovation would be the return of the outdoor shared privy, updated with a security swipe-card on the door.
The logic of all that kind of thing would be to reduce front gardens to zero, thereby creating further space for a line of build-to-rent granny flats along the centre of the wider road thus created. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK JUDGE,
Dún Laoghaire
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Ironically, recommending smaller gardens to solve the housing crisis (Letters, August 4th) seems a perfect plan for members of the Green Party – just enough room for a bicycle and a window box. – Yours, etc,
FLICKA SMALL,
Whitegate,
Cork.
Sir, – Housebuilder Glenveagh would have us believe that modern life has changed so much that families don’t want gardens. I wonder if the directors of Glenveagh have lovely gardens. – Yours, etc,
MARY MURPHY
Dublin 11.
