Planning policy on national roads forcing young family to consider emigration

A YOUNG Donegal family have shared how they are being forced to consider emigration after a restrictive planning policy blocked their hopes of building a home beside their family land.

The hard-working couple’s plans have been halted under a national policy that restricts new accesses and the intensification of existing accesses to national roads where the speed limit is greater than 50 km per hour.

At a recent special plenary council meeting, Cathaoirleach of Glenties MD, Cllr Michael McClafferty stressed that the policy, set at national level, is having far-reaching effects across rural communities.

Cllr Michael McClafferty.

The man, who asked not to be named as his planning application is still under consideration, is in the middle of the planning process for a piece of land along the N13 national primary road beside his partner’s home place.

While they wait, he and his partner, along with their young children, are living with his partner’s parents.

They can’t buy a house because of the defective concrete crisis, they can’t rent because of the high prices being asked and now they are being told they can’t build.

“This is where she has lived her whole life, where I have lived with her for the past four years and where we plan to build our family home,” he said.

There are four houses at the end of the lane, and if they get planning approved it will be five, but because they already use the lane every day, there will be no increase in the number of road users.

However, Transport Infrastructure Ireland recommended not granting their planning for this reason, citing “over intensification” of the junction.

“But our argument is there is no over intensification of the junction because we’re using it daily anyways,” he said.

“But it’s falling on deaf ears.”

The couple have two young children, one attending the local playschool. They hope both will go to the local primary school, but if they can’t find a solution, he said they will be forced to emigrate.

“I’m at the point now where I am just going to withdraw the application because to me it is just a waste of time, energy and money,” he said.

“We have our mortgage decision in principal approved now twice, and lapsed twice. We have €3,500 spent on a bit of ground and I would have been better driving down the road and throwing it out the window.”

“I feel like I’m hitting my head against the wall… We are at the point now where we feel like pulling the pin and moving away.”

He also spoke of a close friend now living in Canada, another young qualified professional who left with his partner because they couldn’t get a site or a house either.

Also speaking to the Donegal News, his father said he fears his son will be forced to emigrate because of the situation.

“He is stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he said.

“It’s bloody shocking that our young people have no choice but to emigrate.”

From his son’s fifteen school classmates, he said only three are still in the country.

“But I don’t blame the young people,” he added.

He criticised government efforts to encourage construction workers abroad to return home.

The government recently spent close to half a million euro on a campaign to encourage construction workers who have moved abroad to return home.

The son added that while the government is encouraging emigrants to return home, “they’re nearly putting you on a plane.”

Local councillor Michael McClafferty has again called for councillors, TDs and senators to join efforts to have the national policy reviewed.

He warned that the restrictions are affecting school enrolments, recruitment in local health services and are forcing young people to emigrate.

“There’s people in Australia, Canada, America, New Zealand and Japan who would love to come home to Donegal, but for many of them the national road is the main problem,” he said.

He described national roads as being “sterilised” because the policy is hampering the planning process and preventing homes being built.

He said the word ‘intensification’ should be removed from the County Development Plan.