The unprecedented trend towards one-off housing in the countryside in Co Kerry cannot continue, according to Mr Tom Sheehy, a senior engineer in the planning department of Kerry County Council. Councillors have eight weeks to consider a draft of the new county development plan.
The Kerry County Development Plan 2003-2008 has as one of its principal aims "the strengthening of rural communities throughout the county".
The settlement strategy seeks to strengthen towns and villages, improve the services and infrastructure and make them more attractive places in which to live, while limiting one-off rural housing to those who have a clear need to live in the area.
Of the 7,351 private houses built in the county in the last five years up to 2001, it is estimated that more than 4,500 were in rural areas, a substantial number of those in the scenic south of the county.
Mr Sheehy said the growth in one-off houses, which threatened the important tourist landscape of Kerry, was often urban-generated.
Enough serviced land should be provided at a reasonable price for housing in towns and villages, he added.
Councillors, however, want a more flexible approach. The Mayor of Kerry, Cllr Michael Healy-Rae, said people should be facilitated to arrest the decline in population in rural areas.
Cllr Michael Connor Scarteen (FG) said he would be unable to support the development plan unless changes were made to the rural settlement policy.
Farmers were in a difficult situation as many could no longer keep sheep , neither could they sell their land for housing.
"The land is worthless because of the restrictions being put on them. Any land-owner should have the right to sell a site to anyone they wish," he said.
Under the proposed rural settlement policy, permission will only be granted for a one-off house in the countryside if the applicant or the spouse is employed in the area for a reasonable period of time or if there are strong family ties, such as parents and siblings. Both claims will have to be supported with relevant documentation.
Additional restrictions are proposed for housing in areas of special amenity and the development plan will encourage renovation of derelict houses. Construction of one-off holiday homes in rural areas will be banned.