RURAL planning guidelines are not worth the paper they are written on and are little more than a publicity stunt Sinn Féin TD, Martin Ferris, has claimed.
He said that when Minister Dick Roche launched the guidelines in 2004, they were nothing more than a publicity stunt in the run into the local elections, a situation now being borne out in rural parts of Kerry.
Deputy Ferris said the inconsistencies and difficulties that people face when seeking planning permission in rural areas are as apparent now as they were three years ago.
"If there is to be fairness and consistency in rural planning then many of these guidelines will have to be written into legislation," he said.
"I will be proposing many parts of the guidelines to be written into legislation, particularly around people building on family land," the Kerry North TD said.
"I am acutely aware of many cases where young people seeking to build a home on plots given to them by their parents find it very difficult to get permission," Deputy Ferris added.
"If the minister and his government were serious about changing the planning system then they would have made sure that local planners were given a little more than just guidelines," the Sinn Féin Dail candidate said.
Mary Murphy
© The Kingdom
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