COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 08, 2023

QUESTION NO. 19

QUESTION: Councillor E. Murphy

To ask the CEO to report as to what is the current position in relation to the commencement of the review of the Rural Housing Policy and Local Needs Criteria under H17 Objective 1 in the South Dublin County Development Plan and when is it going to be implemented?

REPLY:

The adopted County Development Plan 2022-2028 includes an objective to review the existing rural housing policy as follows:

'H17 Objective 1:

To commence a review of the Rural Housing Policy and Local Need Criteria within six months of the adoption of the Plan and to include a public consultation as part of this process.'

While it is recognised that a timeframe was put on the commencement of the review it was done at a time when the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage had indicated that the new Rural Housing Guidelines were to be published within the same timeframe.  This has not materialised. Given that new Rural Housing Guidelines will issue and that the Planning Authority must have regard to them, it would be premature to advance a new rural housing policy at this time.

However, it is intended, by way of preparatory work this summer, to review rural housing policies in the EMRA region and in other counties which have a similar rural / urban make-up as South Dublin County. This will allow for a comparison with South Dublin’s rural housing policy.

It will also be important to ensure that the release of CSO data on small areas later this year feeds into the preparatory work, analysis and decision making of any revised policy.

Until such time as the key documents and data outlined above are available to inform decision making it would be premature to do more than the proposed preparatory work on a new policy.  Until such time as a new rural housing policy is adopted, residential development within the rural hinterland will be carefully managed through the adopted Rural Housing Policy and Local Need Criteria in accordance with the Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines (2005) and Circular SP 5 / 08 and PL 2 / 2017 Local Need Criteria in Development Plans: Conformity with Articles 43 and 56 (Freedom of Establishment and Free Movement of Capital) of the European Community Treaty.