Halting sites for travellers are permitted in principle, or open for consideration, under almost every zoning category in the draft development plan for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown; even in areas zoned to "protect and/or improve residential amenity".
Although representatives of the travelling community have complained that the county council has failed to follow through, it says its policy is to provide halting sites for travellers who "normally reside in the county" and to provide standard housing.
The plan says these "will be the critical elements in the provision of services for travellers". Houses for travellers "will normally be individual houses or grouped houses, to promote their integration with the settled community".
No specific locations are identified in the draft for new halting sites or traveller housing, but they could be provided almost anywhere, except in areas zoned for a science park, for the protection of coastal amenities or for harbour-related development.
It is unclear whether the council's policy to "recognise that people in communities have a right to contribute to the shaping of the areas in which they live" extends to giving elements of the "settled community" an effective veto on the location of halting sites.
On housing in general, the planners say the need for personal security has become "an important factor in modern living" and residential areas should be designed with this in mind. Thus, open spaces, roads and footpaths should be overlooked by housing.
Good architecture ranks last on the checklist of qualities sought by the planners in housing design. Ahead of it comes a "sense of place", the protection of existing amenities, accessibility, recreational provision, personal security, traffic safety and privacy.
Referring to lands owned by religious orders, the plan aims to retain such institutional lands "wherever possible". Permission for housing would only be granted as a last resort, with a minimum open space provision of 20 per cent to retain the character of these lands.
In an obvious effort to relieve pressure on Blackrock, the draft says major office development (with a floor area of more than 1,000 square metres) will only be permitted in Dun Laoghaire and Dundrum, the only two places in the county with "town centre" designations.