A £3,000 levy on all new holiday homes is among a series of measures aimed at regulating controversial developments in Donegal included in a new draft County Development Plan unveiled last week. The number of new holiday homes in the county has grown dramatically since the first ceasefire announcements in 1995 and planning applications are continuing to pour in. While the peace process has increased confidence in the region, the strength of sterling has helped boost demand among Northerners.
Some coastal villages have been particularly affected - in areas such as Dunfanaghy and Rathmullan, locals say holiday homes now outnumber houses owned by permanent residents. Across the county applications for planning permission have been steadily increasing while the population is decreasing.
Many of the holiday homes are in developments of between 10 and 60 houses and apart from the physical imposition on the landscape, have put an extra strain on water and sewage systems. Some villagers in Rathmullan on the Fanad peninsula directly attribute the loss of the `Blue Flag' classification on the local beach and water shortages during the summer months to the over-development of holiday homes.
Campaigners have described the draft plan as "the first ray of hope". It makes numerous references to areas "under pressure from holiday homes and second homes".
Ms Gay Moynihan, the senior executive planner with Donegal County Council, said it was decided that no single measure could adequately address the issue. In addition to the £3,000 development charge on each new holiday home, the plan proposes stricter planning regulation and specific measures to help local people buy houses in areas where the housing market has been distorted by demand for holiday homes.
The plan targets the building of individual houses more so than the development of holiday home "villages". In Category 2 areas - highly scenic areas close to the sea or at the foothills of mountain regions, where holiday homes have generally been built - single houses would be allowed only when the owner intends to live permanently in the house. Exceptions would be made for farm families.
In these Category 2 areas however, the draft plan states that proposals would be considered for holiday home villages as long as they were "adjoining existing settlements" where all services were provided by the developer and where "the proposed development will serve to relieve existing holiday home pressure areas".
This provision may prove unsatisfactory for residents of villages like Dunfanaghy and Rathmullan, who already feel they have been overburdened. Ms Moynihan said it was "realistic" to pursue a policy of allowing five or six places in the county to develop as centres for holiday home developments.
In the third "prong" of the approach proposed in the plan, the council would buy land in areas where locals find it difficult to afford houses and join in partnership with housing associations or the private sector to build homes for them. A pilot scheme would run for three years in a number of villages, including Rathmullan and Dunfanaghy.
Ms Moynihan said the £3,000 levy, which will be used by the council to buy land, could be described as "a Robin Hood policy". She said people from the North who bought holiday homes in Donegal were amazed they did not have to pay domestic rates or water charges. The owners of holiday homes are generally regarded as contributing very little to the local economy. Opponents argue that local guest houses and B&Bs also suffer, as sub-letting is common.
Ms Moynihan said she was not aware of any other county in the State imposing such a levy on holiday homes and said there could be a legal challenge to the move. "This is a new ball game, and we will have to wait and see how we can enforce it," she added.
The draft plan will be open for consultation for three months, and could be adopted by April at the earliest. If changes are made, the plan would have to be displayed for a further month. For some people in Donegal, this is too late. Mr Raymond McMaster, who has been living in Dunfanaghy for the past 10 years, said the area had "changed out of all recognition". He said there was a total disregard for basic planning principles, with two and three-tier ribbon development and skyline development throughout the area. A cluster of holiday homes currently under construction would "obliterate" the first view from the road of Sheep Haven Bay and Horn Head. "In other countries there are boundaries to towns and no building is allowed beyond that," Mr McMaster said. The social cost is also causing concern. Cllr Seamus Rodgers from Annagary said in some areas demand for land was so strong the County Council was finding it difficult to buy land for local authority housing.
"It is not a question of trying to keep people out, but when holiday homes outnumber permanent residents, it can have serious repercussions for the social fabric of an area," he added.