Political reaction: Fine Gael gave a partial welcome to the revised rural housing planning guidelines yesterday, but Labour and the Green Party said they would benefit builders but impose extra costs on local authorities.
Fine Gael's environment spokesman, Fergus O'Dowd, welcomed the guidelines insofar as they "provide for people to live in their own communities". However he said they "fail to allow for the sustainable development that will allow those communities to thrive".
"It is heartening to see that after so many years the Government now believes that people should have the right to live in the areas where they were born and raised and that building houses on family sites is often the only way young people and returning emigrants can put a roof over their heads," he said.
"However, I am disappointed that the guidelines do not provide the necessary environmental protection that our countryside needs. It is my view that Special Areas of Conservation should remain sacrosanct and free of housing.
He said the Minister had concentrated only on the volume of rural housing and not on its design. "The quality of housing in rural areas is vital . . .When done properly, one-off houses can complement the landscape and revitalise depopulated areas of the country," he said. Yet Mr Roche had only commented on the design issue when pushed.
Labour's environment spokesman, Eamonn Gilmore, asked who would pay for the services such as water and sewerage that would have to be provided to the new one-off houses that would be built as a result of the Government's relaxed regime.
"The Labour Party believes in the universal provision of public services such as roads, water, waste, sewerage, and electricity", he said. "The present Government does not. This darker side of Government policy raises major questions for the future of housing in rural areas. Will rural-dwellers be expected in years to come to pay for these essential services or will they be provided by the taxpayer?"
The Green Party environment spokesman, Ciaran Cuffe, said said the Minister's "open season for housebuilders" would bring substantial extra costs for the provision of services.
He said the Minister was not considering "the full environmental, social or economic costs of one-off housing. It appears to be open season for house-builders. This will do little or nothing for those who don't own land in the first instance. It is a landowners' charter."
He said building more housing in rural areas would increase car dependency. The Government should be giving people more choice in housing. "The only choices for young people are shoe-box apartments in our cities, or semi-Ds in the suburbs, all at high prices," he said.