HOUSING

The lack of housing and especially the lack of truly affordable housing in Conamara South is an issue that is very personal to me as I’m sure it is to almost all households. As family members and friends continue to emigrate because of the housing crisis here and throughout the country, I am frustrated and angry by the total lack of progress in this area. Like many parts of the West of Ireland, this part of the country is suffering from the Holiday-home-ification of housing, to the detriment of local communities, local economies and the Irish language. Tourism is of course an important part of the local economy, but housing people who wish to live in the region on a permanent basis should be prioritised over short term visits a few weeks in the year. Proper enforcement of the Vacant Homes Tax and carrying out Compulsory Purchase Orders of derelict buildings in villages would be a good place to start while ramping up the supply of affordable housing in the region. International Vulture Funds and Financial Institutions should not be exempt from such measures. There should be a regional study carried out to publicly list all the properties which are vacant and/or derelict accompanied by the ownership details of the property (in line with GDPR rules).

Conamara South is now undeniably part of the urban sprawl from Galway City. Nowhere between Carraroe and Galway City should have vacant dwellings throughout the year in the middle of an ongoing and worsening housing crisis.

I want Galway County Council to consult with community-led housing organisations, housing co-operatives and community land trusts in addition to approved housing authorities when preparing its housing strategy and to take the future needs of such organisations into account.

I understand that the council has clamped down on granting planning approval for one off builds. I appreciate this is to try to get to grips with the unplanned nature of such development and the proliferation of septic tanks is not ideal given the already deteriorating water quality in the region. However, I think given the complete stagnation in home building and delays in completing new developments, there should be flexibility and even incentives for collectives of small footprint, high density developments, that would fit on land not suitable for a large housing estate development, particularly in the Gaeltacht areas to support the survival of Gaeltacht communities and the Irish language. I would like to see the development of higher density communities in Conamara South instead of the proliferation of large luxury homes on the coastline, liable to be flooded in a few decades.

I disagree with current legislation which uses the “market price” of houses as a benchmark for the provision of affordable homes. I believe that an affordable home should be defined as one in which monthly costs (mortgage or rent) are no more than 30% of one’s income. The current housing market throughout the County is dysfunctional due in part to the demand for housing far exceeding supply. I want Galway County Council to stop propping up house prices on the open market by building/commissioning so-called “affordable housing” at unaffordable prices. I would add that the current state of the market price of housing to buy or rent, (which generally requires dual incomes) is a breach of Article 41.2 of the Irish Constitution .

Galway County Council must build homes for the future as well as for today. That means taking account of how our environment will be impacted by climate change and to build using relevant materials and in relevant locations accordingly. That means building the infrastructure, housing and services for a significantly larger population than the region has today. Failure to plan for the future in this way will leave the region swamped, literally and figuratively speaking. Galway County Council has already failed to plan for the growing population that we have today which was foreseeable based on the census. Let’s not continue on this path of incompetent planning.