FOUR Limerick Fianna Fáil councillors are highlighting the growing housing shortage affecting rural communities.
Councillors Francis Foley, Fergus Kilcoyne, Ger Ward, and Martin Ryan identified “outdated” ribbon development restrictions as a major obstacle that needs to be tackled with urgency on Shannonside.
In a statement issued to the Limerick Post this week, the four councillors deemed it “nonsensical” that rigid technical rules are preventing many qualifying local residents from building homes in their own areas.
The root of the issue, they maintain, lies in both local and national planning policies, particularly the strict interpretation of ribbon development guidelines.
“Under the current Limerick Development Plan, and national rural housing guidelines, there is a limit that restricts residential development to just four houses per 250 metres of rural road frontage,” the quartet of Fianna Fáil councillors said.
“While originally intended to combat haphazard and unsustainable development, these rules are now seen as overly rigid and fail to account for the evolving needs of rural families and the desire of many locals to remain within their communities.”
They continued that “residents who have deep ties to the land and local community are often unable to secure planning permission for homes, even when their proposals would not negatively impact the environment”.
“Unfortunately, we are now seeing people frustrated and disappointed having to live in a town or village miles from their place of birth. Our young people don’t deserve this. It’s a scandal and something needs to be done.”
The councillors are advocating a policy change that would allow up to six homes per 250 metres, provided certain design principles are followed — such as the use of combined entrances where possible and the requirement for detailed landscaping plans.
They also say that other options need to be considered like rural clusters, and backing land development for landowners with large holdings and limited road frontage.
“A more flexible approach is required to make rural housing more practical and sustainable, enabling people with genuine ties to the area to live near family and community,” they said.
The four Fianna Fáil Councillors are urging Limerick City and County Council and the Department of Housing to back these proposals, so that “local people are not excluded from their own communities by unnecessary and outdated planning barriers”.
