Galway County Council will contact Minister for Housing, Local Government, and Heritage Darragh O’Brien to get clarification on housing projects in rural areas.
Cllr Martina Kinane proposed a motion that Galway County Council contact the Minister for Housing, Local Government, and Heritage as to when will his department issue a circular to Galway County Council planning department arising from the Flemish decree judgment of the European Court, the effect this judgment will have on Irish planning practice and in turn Galway County Council Development Plan 2022-2027.
Speaking during Monday’s county council online meeting, Cllr Kinane highlighted the importance of this issue.
“My understanding of the Flemish decree relates back to 2013 when the European Court of Justice considered the law in the Flemish region of Belgian, it limited the transfer of property to persons with sufficient connections to the locality,” Cllr Kinnane said.
“I understand that there was a working group set up back in May 2017 to deal with the impact of the Flemish decree on one off housing in rural areas.
“I think now is the time that we need to get clarification, to contact Minister O’Brien looking for concrete timelines, basically on update on what is happening and the progress.
“I think at the last discussion we had on the proposed development plan a lot of what is set out we have to go with all of the framework documents that are there. This is vital,” she concluded.
