Breen

I can empathise with the dismay Harris feels at the enormous damage being done to the countryside because of the awful houses lined up along country roads in all parts of the country. Having grown up on a farm, then spent 5 years in Dublin while studying, and now a practising architect in “rural Ireland” I can see the issue from the perspectives of the farmer and the architect. With that in mind I’d like to make a few points giving reasons for the mess and some suggestions for amelioration…

Middle-class people do not want to live in towns/villages. In their mind, towns are for “townies” and for council houses. Also, traditional small townhouses along streets in the average provincial town don’t have the same appeal as comparable houses like artisan dwellings in Ringsend/Stoneybatter in Dublin. The reason is lack of parking. Everyone in provincial towns must have a car because there are no bus services, and if there is any the next bus is 7 hours away. Walk? You must be joking. It is written in rural statute that if you need to go to a shop on a particular street you MUST PARK ON THAT VERY SAME STREET. AT NO TIME SHALL YOU PARK ON A DIFFERENT STREET AND WALK AROUND THE BLOCK TO THE REQUIRED SHOP. But what if there are no parking spaces on that street. YOU SHALL POSITION YOUR VEHICLE ON A DOUBLE YELLOW LINE. But what if there are cars on either side so that there is no kerb against which to park. YOU SHALL DRIVE TO A POSITION OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE TO THE SHOP, BRING THE VEHICLE TO A HALT ON THE CARRAIGEWAY , GET OUT, LOCK THE DOOR, GO DO YOUR BUSINESS, blocking the traffic all the time, UNTIL YOU RETURN, GET IN , AND CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY. (I swear to God that last bit about parking your car out on the road, while the traffic is stuck waiting behind happens regularly outside Paddy Powers in a certain town in the south east.) I may have briefly gone off the point, but it’s a small illustration of the absolute lack of any community/civic spirit that is the root of the ruination of the countryside. To hell with everyone I’ll park where I like. To hell with everyone I’ll build where I like!

Farmers make less and less living out of conventional farming, the Common Agricultural Policy is about to become history, so the selling of sites with outline permission is an alternative money spinner. You can’t buy half an acre in the south east for less than 100k anymore. The view is prevalent amongst farmers that where they own land, they, and only they have any moral right to decide how it’s developed. Planners occupy the same position in their mind as the Black & Tans once did.

Our clientilist politics mean that planners are often under pressure from councillors and T.D.s to get permission for applicant. I heard of one case where a planner was out in a field having a consultation with a farmer in relation to an application for outline permission for THREE SITES. A Junior Minister of the present government was present in the field to support the farmer instead of being at his desk in Dublin.

County development plans allow houses to be built on sites that are too small – half an acre, thereby leading to rows of house after house because only 50 metres or so road frontage is required for each one. It should be an absolute requirement that an applicant must have at least 10 acres of land in one holding, to build a house on it. That holding should not be reduced by selling of any part thereof.

Also, there is often a requirement in sensitive areas that the ridge height of houses not be greater than 6 metres. This means that a 2 storey house is out, so if the applicant doesn’t want a bungalow, well it’ll have to be a dormer-bungalow. The ‘dormers’ tend to look more dreadful is visually inappropriate than a 7 metre high 2 storey house could ever have been.

I agree with Graham Hickey about the emphasis on the interiors. They are paramount! In relation to the requirement for only half acre sites mentioned above, people often complain that even that’s too much to maintain. There are no gardens, just a lawn surround by post & rail fence.

I disagree with Graham about living in the countryside however. He painted a very bleak picture. I love living in the countryside. It’s not a bit lonely. Weekday evenings are for being alone sitting by the fire reading. You’ll see plenty of people during the day and at the weekend. Who cares if you run out of milk? Is there no wine in the fridge? Go out and milk a cow. Or ring the postman and ask him to bring you up a carton the next day. I don’t find the roads too dangerous. Neither do the horses. I know most of my neighbours.

Regarding design, as you all know the title ‘Architect’ is not registered and there are armies of technicians roaming the countryside offering ‘architectural services’, ‘architectural design’, calling themselves ‘architects’, ’planning consultants’, and other such subterfuge. Our education system’s lack of design education means that most people are design illiterate – it’s not their fault. Also, having spent more than several years’ wages just buying a site, they are loath to engage a properly qualified Architect to design and supervise the construction of a sustainable work of architecture. They just want a ‘set of plans’.

Meanwhile the concreting over continues…