New planning framework will be the death knell for people living in rural Wicklow
PEOPLE living in rural areas in Wicklow will be forced out of their homes if new planning guidelines get the green light.
Cllr Pat Kennedy said the draft National Planning Framework will be the death knell for rural Wicklow if it is implemented.
‘If these guidelines are adopted it will rule out planning in rural Wicklow. As a councillor working with people trying to secure planning permission I’m aware how difficult it is to get planning in Wicklow. At the minute it’s very difficult but if these guidelines are adopted it will be impossible.
‘At the moment if you want to live in the rural area you have to demonstrate a social or economic need but under the new framework these will be reduced to proving an economic need only.
‘So if you have a farmer with three children and he hands the farm over to one child the other two don’t have a right to live there because they won’t have an economic need.
‘Currently there is no sewerage capacity in Annacurragh and Aughrim and Rathdrum will reach capacity in the next five to seven years so people can’t move into town.
‘This whole plan is ill thought out. Rural people will have to stand up and be counted in relation to this. It is going to turn rural Ireland into a holiday home destination. Rural people won’t be able to afford housing in rural towns and villages. They will be snapped up by people from Dublin.
‘I think this proposed framework is one of the most serious documents since the Foundation of the State. People have to put pressure on their local representatives and their local TD’s in particular who will be addressing this at national level.
‘I think rural people will have to take to the streets over this. It cannot be implemented under any circumstances. I don’t think it is acceptable. Rural people have a right to live in the area they are from and to rear their family there.
‘I think there has been absolutely no consultation with the people on the ground.’
Cllr Kennedy said he had been contacted by several people living in rural areas who are very concerned about the implications of this framework. This will be the death knell for rural families. Local schools, GAA clubs and businesses will close if this goes ahead in its current form.’