Sir, - There is a simple point to be made on this subject, particularly in relation to the letter from Marian Harkin (15 August).Rural housing development cannot be divorced from the wider social needs of employment, shopping, community services, recreation and protection of the environment, all in the interests of the common good.
There seems to be an assumption that the mere fact either of land ownership, or of simple aspiration to live in the country, confers a right to build. This is not the case.
Ms Harkin refers to the regional imbalance caused by the disproportionate draw of Dublin. Redressing this imbalance means developing strong and well planned towns and village in areas such as the West in order to entice the scale and range of employment and amenities needed to counter-balance Dublin. This is different from simply allowing rural housing to continue unchecked.
The key difficulty, is that much of the new rural housing is generated by people who have no specific need to live there. Living and movement patterns which are effectively urban in origin are better allocated to urban areas. This would allow for the development of rural housing where it is related to clear and identified needs.
The unit cost for proper provision of water supply, energy, telecommunications, transport, etc. can be greatly higher for rural housing. Also, many of the new houses in the countryside are prominently placed (often to maximise the resident's view of the landscape from the comfort of a living-room chair). Unfortunately this damages the view for others. Many of new houses are also a visual blight because their design is suburban.
On the other hand, I am heartened by Ms. Harkin's comments about population balance within the framework of spatial strategy. This is what the planning profession also seeks and in this regard I look forward to the emergence of the National Spatial Strategy, currently being prepared by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. - Yours, etc.,
Christopher McGarry, Chairperson, Royal Town Planning Institute, (Irish Branch), Herbert Place, Dublin 2.