Sons and daughters wanting to operate their Galway family farms along side roads are turning to satellite farming. This is because planning permission is becoming increasingly difficult to secure. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which is responsible for the national roads network, wants to limit traffic leading from side roads to main roads.
However, adult children whose parents have homes and farmland along these side roads travel there frequently anyway. This makes traffic unavoidable.
The matter is a subject of discussion among Galway County Council members as they review the Galway County Development Plan. One section refers to the minimisation of traffic leading from side roads to national roads where speed limits are more than 60km/h. This is preventing farming families from securing planning permissions on their own lands, despite the potential to actually reduce traffic. They have no choice but to consider satellite farming in the meantime.
One official points out that the volume of traffic on access roads could actually lessen if TII authorised planning on them. Proof is needed to show that farming generations who want to work the land off main roads will reduce traffic flow. Then the TII will have no choice but to consider the applications more seriously.