Strangers Not Allowed

Thinking of retiring to a wee cottage in Ireland, are you? You got the urge from watching every episode of Ballykissangel, and fell in love with the beauty of County Wicklow. What could be better than slowing down the pace of life by relocating to some small town, one like the setting of that old soap opera? Once the estate agent finds out where you're from, they'll be saying that they are ever so sorry, but there's nothing available.

How can this be, you might ask. You've done your research, and you know that the television program was filmed in the town of Avoca in County Wicklow, and there certainly appeared to be acres of open ground. Now the estate agent is on the spot, hemming and hawing, possibly giving the old tight collar a tug. There's nothing available, you see, because you're not one of them. You're not living in Avoca now.

Of course you're not living there now, you carry on, you want to move there to live from now on. Can't do it, unfortunately. You might be able to find something to rent, but to own? No, sorry, nothing available.

Thanks to some quick action by the Wicklow County Council County Settlement committee, you can't move into several small rural towns unless you already live in the small rural town. No stranger faces allowed on their little country roads. If you'd like to relocate to a slightly larger area, like Avoca, well then, get in line. Only 25% of new homes built in Avoca can be sold to strangers.

If you can see your way to moving into a bigger town, then you might stand a better chance. Some places are being roped off for residents new to Wicklow, to keep all the strangers together and well away from the settled Wicklowians. Just don't go picking one of the highly restricted places, where no one can build a new home unless they've been a resident of the town for at least ten years.

It's all about controlling growth and urban sprawl, done up Irish style. Don't want too many houses being built in the small hamlet? Don't let anyone build. Isn't that so simple? And when your neighbor's children are ready to leave the family nest and want a place of their own, well, you tweak the law a bit and restrict new construction to long-time residents, such as the neighbor's kids who have resided in Wicklow since birth and meet that ten year requirement.

The County's scheme is far more complex than I could ever hope to explain. They've split up the place into ten categories, each with its own set of rules and regulations. The whole thing is so complex that no one in their right mind would even try to figure out where they could build and where they cannot even move to. So, the plan works perfectly. No urban sprawl for County Wicklow. Brilliant.