Elderly people in South Roscommon becoming "more and more isolated"
Local representatives in south Roscommon are prepared to consider contravening the county development plan in a bid to address a myriad of difficulties in relation to the granting of planning permission for one-off rural housing.
The issue of rural decline has now become so acute across large swathes of south Roscommon that schools are struggling to increase numbers and elderly people are becoming “more and more isolated”, according to local Cllr Laurence Fallon from Rahara.
Cllr Fallon is part of a group of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent members on Roscommon County Council who joined forces in a coalition to lead the new council following the recent local elections.
One of the key priorities of the coalition is tackling rural isolation, and they are committed to reviewing the policies around the granting of planning permission for one-off rural housing.
In a press statement setting out their priorities, the coalition signalled their committment to initiating “if necessary, a Material Contravention/alteration to the Roscommon County Development Plan and/or Local Area Plans to address any problems with any planning policies, insofar as we are empowered to do so.”
Speaking to the Westmeath Independent, Cllr Fallon said he believes it is “not so much a question of altering the Roscommon County Development Plan as it is the interpretation of the planning laws” and he questioned the criteria as to what constitutes a local need.
“Local need is very subjective, and is open to any number of interpretations,” he says, “and what we are seeking are very clear guidelines in relation to rural planning so there is no room for ambiguity in relation to who is, or is not, entitled to build a one off house in a rural area.”
Another grey area in relation to planning revolves around the interpretation of someone being 'of the area' according to Cllr Fallon, who says “simply put, if you are born in south Roscommon you should be deemed to be 'of the area' but yet again it is another aspect of the current planning laws that is subjective.”
He says there is “a crying need” to increase pupil numbers in some south Roscommon schools “and there are schools in Monksland bursting at the seams” and adds that there is “a severe lack of balanced regional development” in Roscommon and in other parts of the country.
“The wider picture here is if we move everyone into towns and villages how do we keep rural communities alive?'” he asks. “There is a desire out there to change the structure of rural Ireland by moving everyone who is not a farmer into a more urban setting, but that will completely change the fabric of rural Ireland and we, as public representatives, cannot allow this to happen.”
Cllr Fallon, along with four other councillors from the Athlone Municipal District of Roscommon County Council, Cllrs John Naughten, Domnick Connolly, John Keogh and Emer Kelly are part of the newly-formed coalition.
The group which has “agreed to work as a collective body for the betterment of all the people of this county” according to their press statement, has sought a meeting with the council's Chief Executive and the Director of Services to discuss the issue of rural housing, supports for the farming community and measures around tackling rural isolation.
Their press statement added that the current policy of Roscommon County Council in relation to planning for rural housing is forcing family members t o”move away from their families and from the villages and communities in which they were raised, thereby causing unnecessary burdens on our health and community services, considering the ageing demographic of our people.”