COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Thursday, June 17, 2021

MOTION NO.

MOTION: Councillor M. Duff, Councillor P. Kearns, Councillor Alan Edge

H19 Objective 1: Add at the end the following text:'The above criteria to be considered alongside the need to sustain and renew established rural communities and to ensure the viability of amenity, including local schools & the need to accommodate genuine rural housing needs where they arise.'

REPORT:

The motion relates to Policy 19: Rural Housing in HA-Dublin Mountains Zone and seeks to insert the following paragraph at the end of H19 Objective 1: ‘The above criteria to be considered alongside the need to sustain and renew established rural communities and to ensure the viability of amenity, including local schools & the need to accommodate genuine rural housing needs where they arise’

The objective as currently written reads:

‘To consider new or replacement dwellings within areas designated with Zoning Objective ‘HA-Dublin Mountains’ (to protect and enhance the outstanding natural character of the Dublin Mountains Area) in the following exceptional circumstances where all of the criteria below are met:

• The applicant is a native of the area; and
• The applicant can demonstrate a genuine need for housing in that particular area; and
• The development is related directly to the area’s amenity potential or to its use for agriculture, mountain or hill farming; and
• The development would not prejudice the environmental capacity of the area, and that it would be in keeping with the character of the mountain area.

These criteria are in accordance with the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines (2005), having regard to the outstanding character of the area and the need to preserve the environmental and landscape quality of this area.

‘The above criteria to be considered alongside the need to sustain and renew established rural communities and to ensure the viability of amenity, including local schools & the need to accommodate genuine rural housing needs where they arise.’

The ‘HA-Dublin Mountains’ is an area of the County which has outstanding character, hosts the Council’s SACs and SPAs and therefore a need to preserve the environmental and landscape quality of the area. However, as already indicated within the objective, genuine housing need is one of the criteria to be considered. Having regard to the recognition that the new wording is to be considered alongside all of the criteria, including the genuine rural housing needs, it is considered that the motion is acceptable.

Recommendation

It is recommended that this motion is adopted.