Less zoning to push up land prices

A dramatic reduction in the amount of residential land zoned in Clare could result in higher prices for one-off houses in rural areas, Councillor PJ Kelly has warned.

Councillor Kelly has also requested Environment Minister Phil Hogan introduce legislation to prevent any zoning of land without the consent of the owner.
The Fianna Fáil councillor made the call after a review of Ireland’s planning system by An Taisce found Clare was the most over-zoned county in the country in 2011, with 3,208 hectares zoned for development allowing for an overall additional population of 273,000.
This was followed by County Cork, with 2,500 hectares and Donegal, with 2,250 hectares.
Clare had a 170% over-zoning ratio last year when the capacity of undeveloped zoned land as a proportion of existing housing stock was taken into account.
Acknowledging that too much land was zoned in Clare, Councillor Kelly pointed out the amount of land zoned for residential use didn’t correspond with the land that is available for development, as a large percentage of land would never be put on the market by some landowners, who simply didn’t want to sell.
The Fianna Fáil councillor cited the case of Lissycasey, where planners wanted to zone the centre of the village for development to join it with east and west of the settlement, which made sense for the proper planning of the area.
However, it was highly unlikely to happen in the near future as a number of local farmers didn’t want to sell the relevant land zoned for development.
He recalled a lot of land in Clare over the past decade was zoned as collateral to secure loans for farming and businesses, even though there was no intention of every building on this land.
Back in 2003, Councillor Kelly started to get unsolicited requests to sell sites on his own land after it was zoned for residential development.
After absenting himself from the decision-making process to zone this land in the first instance, he subsequently requested the council to dezone his own land, as he wants to pass it on to his children.
“A lot of people have land that is zoned for development without their knowledge, which shouldn’t be the case. I am aware that land has been zoned in Kildysart that will not be built up because the land owner will not sell it,” he explained.
Commenting on the report, senior planner Gordon Daly pointed out Clare County Council has been one of the fastest in the country to move to address the issue of over zoning following the changes in planning legislation in 2010.
He noted Clare was not one of the eight local authorities that have failed to meet the deadlines set under the new legislation.
“Since 2011, new local area plans have been adopted for East Clare, North Clare and West Clare and local area plans for South Clare and Shannon will by completed in the coming months.
“In the making of these local area plans, hundreds of hectares of lands previously zoned for residential use have been dezoned by the elected members,” he said.