Plans to penalise people for living in rural areas are unacceptable - IFA

PLANS by the Department of transport to penalise people for living in rural areas are totally unacceptable according to IFA National Farm Family & Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche.

The draft “Moving Together, A Strategic Approach to the Improved Efficiency of the Transport System in Ireland” report, recently published by the Department of Transport outlines plans to discourage one-off housing developments including potential new taxes on developments in rural areas. The plans are aimed at cutting car usage.

The IFA National Farm Family Chair said, “the plans are completely unfair, and these plans will add further financial pressures on rural dwellers.”

“People who wish to live in the countryside cannot be treated differently to people who wish to live in urban areas. These new plans are restricting ability of choice on where people choose to live. Such a move may mean further isolation for older people living in rural areas, if the option of family living nearby is restricted,” she said.

“The current planning systems allows people to choose where they live and such discrimination cannot be allowed to be built into the planning system,” she added.

IFA National Farm Business Chair Bill O’Keeffe said many farmers need to live on their farms for many reasons such as efficiency, sustainability, and overall success of farming operations, putting more taxes and expenses on these rural dwellers is not the answer.

“People who wish to live in an urban area can be positively rewarded for doing so, but people who wish to live in rural areas should not be penalised,” he concluded.