COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

MOTION NO. 12

MOTION: Councillor B. Bonner

"This committee recommends that in considering planning applications for the building of homes, that people who grew up in the rural areas of the Clondalkin electoral area would be enabled to continue to live there and be part of their communities." 

REPORT:

This recommendation could infringe European Law as determined in the outcome of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, "Flemish Decree" case against Belgium.

The Planning Authority is awaiting a review of the 2005 planning guidelines for sustainable rural housing which is being undertaken by the Department of Housing and Planning. This review arises from a judgment of the European Court of Justice in 2013 in a case taken by the European Commission against Belgium, now referred to as the Flemish decree case. As Councillors are aware, the 2005 rural housing guidelines require planning authorities to frame the planning policies in their development plans in a balanced and measured way to ensure the housing needs of rural communities will be met, while avoiding excessive urban-generated housing and haphazard development, particularly in areas near cities and towns that are under pressure from urban-generated development. The guidelines further aim to ensure that sites being developed for rural housing are suitable with regard to vehicular access, wastewater disposal, and also from landscape and design perspectives. In this regard, the guidelines suggest a number of criteria to be taken into account in local authority development plans for the purpose of assessing whether planning applications for rural housing are intended to meet a rural generated housing need. These "local needs" criteria in the guidelines primarily relate to requiring planning applicants to have a family or an occupational tie to the rural area in question.

The European Commission originally issued an infringement notice against Ireland in respect of the rural housing guidelines in 2007 which was subsequently deferred pending the outcome of the European Court of Justice, ECJ, "Flemish Decree" case against Belgium. The decree linked the transfer of property in certain Flemish communes to the condition that there should exist a sufficient connection between the prospective property buyer and the relevant commune, which had the practical effect of precluding non-locals from purchasing property in the Flemish communes in question. The court ruled that the Flemish decree constituted an unjustified restriction on fundamental freedoms under the EU treaty, in particular that it breached Article 43 of the treaty on the free movement of citizens. The content of the motion would appear to have some similarities to the issues determined in the Flemish Decree.