Why are new rural planning guidelines being introduced?An overhaul of the planning rules related to rural housing development comes 21 years after 2005 regulations, long criticised by rural and farm advocacy groups for placing too many restrictions on applicants, came into force. Minister for Housing James Browne said local authorities have often applied “arbitrary” and “ad hoc” criteria to rural housing applications, causing “frustration” for those seeking to build. The new plan aims to ensure planning decisions are “transparent, evidence-based and applied consistently” across all councils, he said.Between 4,000 and 5,000 single rural dwellings are built each year. Browne said the new rules do not set a target of more rural housing but aim to expand the ability of rural people to live within their own communities. Will anybody be able to build a house in a rural or Gaeltacht area?The draft guidelines make distinctions between types of rural settings, including Gaeltacht areas and communities within city or commuter town catchments. A person looking to build rurally must demonstrate an economic or social need for living in the area, except for in rural settlements with populations of less than 1,500 residents, where no such criteria apply.A person looking to build a home in a Gaeltacht area must have lived within 3km of their site for 10 years. However, this can be relaxed to five years for Irish speakers who can show a local social need. In rural areas close to commuter towns or metropolitan areas, a prospective home builder must have strong local ties to the area in which they want to live. To demonstrate a “social need”, they must have lived within 10km of the site of their proposed house for at least seven years, either all at once or over time. To show an economic need for such rural areas, a person’s primary work must be directly related to the vicinity. A list of acceptable rural jobs includes those in farming, the equine sector, forestry, essential services (such as local schools), or people running a rural business. A planning authority can apply a more restrictive approach if an area is under significant pressure from urban centres or from demand for holiday homes. Occupancy clauses should be attached to planning permissions mandating that the house must be the applicant’s primary residence for at least 10 years, the guidelines say.How do these rules apply to remote workers? Remote workers are not considered to meet the economic need for living in such a rural area, as their employment is not “intrinsically linked” to the setting. However, Browne said they could still qualify to build rurally if they can demonstrate a social need due to having lived nearby for a substantial period.Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary said planners will use the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge certification system to assess a person’s language competency if they are seeking to build in a Gaeltacht area after living there for only five years. He said the B2 standard for spoken Irish will be applied, which is the equivalent of upper intermediate level under a commonly recognised language assessment system.Might this lead to more ribbon development, urban sprawl and car dependency?The 2005 guidelines took aim at so-called ribbon development, rows of five or more homes along one side of a rural road. The new rules relax the approach to such development patterns, stipulating that each case should be “judged on its own merits”. Local authorities will be told to avoid “prescriptive” standards such as “no more than five in a row”.In an effort to avoid urban sprawl, the new guidelines permit local authorities to apply green belt-type designations to areas near cities or large towns. The plan focuses on facilitating people who have a local need over those without a historic connection to an area who would be commuting elsewhere for work. It says the latter group would place significant pressure on the rural environment and reinforce car-dependent travel patterns and should instead be accommodated in the surrounding towns and villages. Browne said he believes the Government has struck a balance between protecting the environment and enabling people to build in their local area. When will the rules take effect?The environmental impacts of the draft planning statement are to be assessed, which could take between two and four months, according to Minister of State for Planning John Cummins. After this, the Government is set to approve the final plan, which would then become law. In the meantime, he said, local councils will need to begin work on aligning their development plans with the new guidelines.