A report on Tuosist, in Kerry's Beara Peninsula, paints a picture of people, national and non-national, who might not be pulling together as well as they might.
The report was commissioned by the Tuosist Development Group and was carried out by David McCarthy and Associates, the Cork organisational consultants. Among the things it dealt with was the question of relations between locals and non-locals, highlighting the point that objections to some planning applications by non-nationals were a source of local angst.
The report says there should be more communication between those who have moved into the area recently and those resident there for generations. The development group has accepted this recommendation, and meetings are planned to improve things.
Of much more concern, however, the report discovered that young couples are finding it too expensive to buy land for housing in the parish. Being a heritage area, there are also restrictive planning regulations. There is the perception, too, that non-locals have contributed to the rising property prices. These concerns, real or imagined, must be addressed, according to the report.
The community and the planning authorities must come together, it says, to work out ways in which a potential housing crisis can be alleviated.
About 1,200 people live in Tuosist parish, with newcomers making up about 30 per cent of the population.
Another concern is that young people are finding it difficult to build new homes, even on land owned by their parents, because of the planning laws. The report advances some innovative ideas here, for instance that the local authority could purchase land in an effort to control prices and that Bord Failte should offer grants to young people to refurbish old buildings as new family homes.
If the parish is to prosper in the new millennium, it must have young people living there. It must also have better infrastructure, better roads and the ability to attract inward investment. Tuosist wanted to take stock, and that's why the report was commissioned. Now within the next two years £1.3 million will be spent on upgrading roads in the locality, and all strands of opinion are being drawn together to find the best way forward.
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