New housing 'a threat' to villages

Rows of suburban style, three and four bedroom semi-detached houses spreading from Dublin deep into the countryside are threatening traditional villages, according to the Irish Planning Institute.

The institute yesterday called on local authorities to ensure better design and location for new houses. Earlier this year the Heritage Council said much of the new development around existing towns was unsympathetic to the existing built heritage.

The institute also criticised one-off rural housing, saying people who wished to live in the countryside should be encouraged to "live within the rural community" where there is a local school and a shop on their doorstep.

Such people should also be encouraged to live in a way that values, protects and revitalises the built heritage of a rural village, according to the institute.

Speaking at the presentation of prizes at Louth Local Authorities' Design and Conservation awards, the president of the Irish Planning Institute, Henk van der Kamp, said housing development in villages should adopt good design to avoid unnecessary suburbanisation.

The institute believes suburbanisation is putting traditional Irish villages under threat because ranks of standard housing are being tacked on to the outskirts of such villages.

"Local authorities need to push more to ensure that new houses in rural areas respect the landscape they are slotting into and also to encourage good modern design. We need to move away from the 'one size fits all' bulky monotonous styles that we see across the country," he said.

"It is vital for councils in framing policies that they do not lose sight of the impact of unsustainable one-off rural housing on rural villages.

"Too often the experience of new housing in the countryside in many parts of Ireland has been one of poor repetitive designs, badly sited and little attempt to integrate into the landscape."