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ENVIRONMENT MINISTER ALAN Kelly has defended plans to allow studio apartments of just 40 square metres.
Kelly’s department published new guidelines yesterday which will make apartment sizes consistent across local authorities.
While the floor space of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments will remain the same, changes have been made in a number of other areas to facilitate an increase in housing supply.
The minimum size of a one-bedroom apartment will be set at 45 square metres and studio apartments will be a minimum of 40 square metres.
The move has been met with scepticism by the Irish Planning Institute and DIT Housing lecturer Lorcan Sirr, who told Newstalk that the plan would do little to ensure that cities would be attractive to young people.
Sirr said that Kelly would be “better served” by ensuring that the planning and fire safety rules were adhered to.
He told listeners that a 40 square metre studio apartment was about the size of a sitting room, hall and stairs in a semi-detached home.
He said that the plans make no economic sense, will not attract builders and are a win for developers.
If you’re trying to create a sustainable city where people live and they don’t all want cars and they want to walk around the place and live near their work, you need to create apartments that people want to live in for a long time. We have enough small apartments in Dublin and Cork.
Cathal Mac Coille / TwitterHow would you like living in a 40 sq meter apartment like this?
— Cathal Mac Coille (@CathalMacCoille) December 22, 2015
Alan Kelly on new guidelines.@morningireland 8.15 pic.twitter.com/t2T66v69pa
However, Kelly defended himself. In a terse interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said that the move was designed to normalise the planning process in the country.
“The building that is going on is all office blocks because building apartments is not viable.
“If someone was going to build apartments right now, it would be a loss-making exercise.
“I don’t accept some of the commentary that these apartments are “shoeboxes”. I wouldn’t go back to that.”
Kelly said that despite his plan allowing for apartments just two square metres bigger than those allowed under Fianna Fáil, he sees the guidelines as different.
“To be fair, you have to look at the guidelines in a fuller context.
The 2007 guidelines are favourable with other European cities, so I believe that these apartments are absolutely adequate and affordable.
“There’s no point in having standards in place if nobody is going to build them.”
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Great idea from an Post.
I was in SuperValu shopping this week. I saw a lot of people who were definitely over 70.
Some seem to have no choice but to go out, collect pensions, go shopping for food, fuel etc.
It’s next to impossible to get an online delivery slot for shopping to be delivered.
You can’t ask people to stay in and offer minimal support, the Guards are helping some people, and this is a good initiative. But more needs to be done if the elderly are to be housebound.
@Mark Walsh: what p#sses me off is a neighbour of mine in good health and in her mid 30′s is still getting Tesco delivered when she is probably taking a slot from somebody that really needs it, I’m sure she is one of many around the country.
@Sharp Elsi Mate: how do you know your neighbour isn’t in an at risk group? It’s not just the elderly. Neighbour may have medical condition you don’t know about
@karen: she has been doing it for the last 2 years at least so unless her and her husband could see this coming or are that unfortunate I’d be very surprised. Not to mind the tesco is over 20 miles away and there is a fine big Supervalu on their doorstep. All i am saying is people need to be a bit more sensible.
Brillaint idea, as a concconer I hope these ideas are used after the emerengcy. Let’s build a better society where we all are involved in everybody’s care…
@David Dineen: absolutely. Cocooning too.
@David Dineen: that’d be lovely David, but Cant see it happening.
People are selfish, as long as it doesn’t effect them, they don’t really care.
Apart from the odd nice person
And living in a flat most of us don’t even know each other
Which makes me sad ,
we just hardly ever see each other
What about the post persons families?the more interaction they have the more likely it is they will get c19.they do have homes to go to as well.
@Stan Kowalskis: read the last line of the article. In practice they knock on the door and stand back a few metres until the person answers. If they don’t answer then they alert authorities
newspapers are yesterday’s news full of bacteria and virus they should be left on the shelf.
@Richard Russell: True Also all the food delivered could have germs.
Everything could. Even if the items are picked off shelves by a person using gloves, that means nothing, gloves still pass the virus from item to item!
But what else Can We do. There aren’t many solutions
It seems everything has a risk
News papers only available in cities and counties just outside Dublin. For those living in the countryside and rural areas, as per usual no service available.
I just wanted to put it out there
my partner is my carer, he had to wait in a Que over 2 and half hours outside Tesco
He was in Bits by time he got back.
Then all I wanted to do was wipe everything with anti bacterial wipes.
Its a very frightening time especially for the more vulnerable amongst us
I really Feel for them.
If I didn’t have him, even without him being my carer, I couldn’t Que that long, I have terribly painful bad back and over active bladder!
have your say