Sustainable Development

Response to ‘Sustainable Rural Housing; Consultation Draft of Guidelines for Planning Authorities’

May 2004

This submission critiques the current Irish Rural Housing Guidelines, arguing that their formation lacked proper participation and consultation; they are based on insufficient information; they over-emphasise dispersed housing to the detriment of other types of housing, in particular that of small settlements and villages; they fail to acknowledge important environmental and social factors such as peak oil and the fact that dispersed housing is more likely to be built and inhabited by the relatively well-off; and they introduce a discriminatory planning system based on the provenance and circumstances of the applicant. It suggests that a Rural Housing Commission …

Submission on Rural Housing To the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Local Government

6th Nov 2003 , Emer O’Siochru

This submission makes a case for promoting small compact housing settlements rather than dispersed housing. It examines precedents for this development model in Ireland, arguing that most Irish villages and towns came into existence as a result of conscious planning. It suggests that the tax system be used to influence decisions about housing construction in favour of compact settlements, and that a ‘Participatory Budget’ system be introduced, following the example of Sao Paulo in Barzil, with the County Development Boards playing a strong role.

The full version can be downloaded as a PDF file…

Notes for the UK Sustainable Development Commission, re Redefining Prosperity

By John Jopling for Feasta, October 2003

This submission argues that the Sustainable Development Commission has thus far tended to emphasise symptoms of global problems rather than their root causes. In particular, it argues that the SDC should consider the role played by the global financial system in the world economy, and the link between debt-based money and the pressure on economies to expand indefinitely.

The full text can be found below or downloaded as a PDF version…

Critique of Part V of the 2000 Planning and Development Act (in Ireland)

September 2002

PDF Version

It can happen that, while concentrating on one area of concern in a piece of legislation, the Government fails to recognise the impact on or relationship to others. This is the case with Part V of the 2000 Act which has laudable aims of addressing social exclusion and housing affordability but which has overlooked important economic and environmental considerations and has failed to consider its very different impact on rural versus urban areas. The following paper examines and critiques Part V of the 2000 Act under Feasta’s focus of sustainability using environmental, economic and social criteria. …