Madam, - Well done to Sean Brosnan (August 12th) for pointing out the obvious problems associated with sporadic, ill-managed development. The intrinsic character of a vast part of our landscape has been despoiled and the destruction continues even in areas depending on tourism.
We learn that an office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) has been set up to tackle the problem of illegal dumping which seems to concern the Department of the Environment to an enormous extent. I am not condoning this behaviour for one minute, but at the end of the day you can clean up the effects of illegal dumping.
In contrast, there seems to be no way to tackle bad development (one-off houses) in ribbons along the roadside. This is the greatest threat by far to our landscape, as pointed out by the Irish Planning Institute.
This controversy is dogged by confusion. Our rural areas were occupied continuously since people first settled on the island. However, without exception, these settlements were an inherent part of the landscape, built of natural materials and respecting the natural topography.
All rural houses should respect, without exception, the traditional dispersed village structure. Existing farmsteads should be used to anchor developments in future.
In this way, residents of the countryside are not excluded from their locality, but are expected to maintain its character for other people to share. - Is mise,
DAVID KELLY,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.