The North's direct-rule regional development minister Lord Rooker has proposed that, with very few exceptions, no future single buildings can be erected in the Northern Ireland countryside.Lord Rooker's rural building ban proposal is contained in a planning policy document published yesterday for a 12-week consultation period. He said, however, that from yesterday all applications to build new houses in the North's countryside would not be considered. The plan is aimed at preventing Northern Ireland falling victim to so-called "bungalow blight". The minister said his radical proposal was designed "to protect Northern Ireland's countryside for future generations". He said there was sufficient land already available to cope with the North's housing demand for the next five to 10 years. "At present the numbers of rural planning approvals here are three times the combined total in England, Scotland and Wales," said Lord Rooker.
