I am writing to you in connection with the recently proposed Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) which, from the draft map that was recently released, encompasses a large section of my farmland, marked as Parcel ID: GALATKT011 on your map.
My land has been in my family for generations and has been exclusively used for the purpose of farming which is my livelihood, and the livelihood of my ancestors before me. My sons are intent in carrying on the tradition once I retire, or ultimately pass away, and carry on the long tradition of farming within our family. To think that this will finally be taken away from them due to what I feel is a tax that is akin to extortion, saddens me deeply and has had a massive negative affect on my mental wellbeing since hearing of this.
Rezoning my agricultural land and taxing me for not wanting to sell it to developers to build properties is extortion, which is defined as;” the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats”. This is exactly what you are proposing: force me to pay massive amounts of tax on land which I already own and have owned for decades as I want to continue to farm it. If I want to pay your massive rates of tax to continue to farm, the only way I can do so is by selling my farm. No matter what I do, or decision I make, I will eventually be left with nothing as you have left me no other options.
Why are planning laws not amended to accommodate more low-cost housing (such as with timber houses) and planning permission not given out more freely to help alleviate this lack of housing? Why is it that small farmers such as myself are going to be forced out of their working lives, unable to pass their farm onto the next generation, when there are numerous vacant houses and properties across the county? Would it not be more efficient, less intrusive, and overall, more logical to acquire these locations as potential sources of accommodation? I would like to refer you to an article in the GalwayDaily website in July of this year which showed: “More than 6 percent of homes in Galway were vacant last month, fifty percent higher than the national average.The latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report found that Galway had a residential vacancy rate of 6.1% in June of 2022, above the national average of 4.2%.”
Forcing me to sell my land to pay this tax will not solve or even reduce the lack of affordable housing available to people, and as the previous paragraph has shown, property vacancy in Galway is “fifty percent higher than the national average” meaning that there are alternative solutions than taxing small family-owned farms like mine to extinction. All it will do is destroy my livelihood, and that of my children. I am at an age in my life where I do not need the financial insecurity and prospect of losing my beloved farm to line the pockets of developers who will most likely be afforded tax breaks and the likes, while people like my family are being forced into an unwinnable situation.
This tax will essentially destroy the lifetime of work that I have created, losing income from the sale of animals, as well as the grants and schemes I obtain which are vital to the income of the farming community at large. To obtain these grants one must actively be farming as dictated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This can be verified with the Department of Agriculture, showing that my lands have been submitted for grant payments, and that I am, and always have been actively farming them.
I implore you to remove my land from this plan as it is, and always has been, used solely for the purposes of agriculture for generations before me, and I hope will remain that way for generations to come. I should not be pushed out of my livelihood because I happen to be located in an area that you have deemed appropriate to develop, completely disregarding the purpose it has served for so long. On your website, you state that the objective of the Residential Zoned Land Tax is “in order to increase housing supply and to ensure regeneration of vacant and idle lands in urban locations”. My lands are not, and never have been idle or vacant, and so I feel this should exempt me from being rezoned and liable for this proposed tax.
Tuairimí
The area of Garracloon marked by an X is my land being identified, Parcel ID: GALATKT011
I wish to remove the full Parcel of Land identified, Parcel ID: GALATKT011
I am the landowner
To Whom It Concerns,
I am writing to you in connection with the recently proposed Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) which, from the draft map that was recently released, encompasses a large section of my farmland, marked as Parcel ID: GALATKT011 on your map.
My land has been in my family for generations and has been exclusively used for the purpose of farming which is my livelihood, and the livelihood of my ancestors before me. My sons are intent in carrying on the tradition once I retire, or ultimately pass away, and carry on the long tradition of farming within our family. To think that this will finally be taken away from them due to what I feel is a tax that is akin to extortion, saddens me deeply and has had a massive negative affect on my mental wellbeing since hearing of this.
Rezoning my agricultural land and taxing me for not wanting to sell it to developers to build properties is extortion, which is defined as;” the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats”. This is exactly what you are proposing: force me to pay massive amounts of tax on land which I already own and have owned for decades as I want to continue to farm it. If I want to pay your massive rates of tax to continue to farm, the only way I can do so is by selling my farm. No matter what I do, or decision I make, I will eventually be left with nothing as you have left me no other options.
Why are planning laws not amended to accommodate more low-cost housing (such as with timber houses) and planning permission not given out more freely to help alleviate this lack of housing? Why is it that small farmers such as myself are going to be forced out of their working lives, unable to pass their farm onto the next generation, when there are numerous vacant houses and properties across the county? Would it not be more efficient, less intrusive, and overall, more logical to acquire these locations as potential sources of accommodation? I would like to refer you to an article in the GalwayDaily website in July of this year which showed: “More than 6 percent of homes in Galway were vacant last month, fifty percent higher than the national average. The latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report found that Galway had a residential vacancy rate of 6.1% in June of 2022, above the national average of 4.2%.”
Forcing me to sell my land to pay this tax will not solve or even reduce the lack of affordable housing available to people, and as the previous paragraph has shown, property vacancy in Galway is “fifty percent higher than the national average” meaning that there are alternative solutions than taxing small family-owned farms like mine to extinction. All it will do is destroy my livelihood, and that of my children. I am at an age in my life where I do not need the financial insecurity and prospect of losing my beloved farm to line the pockets of developers who will most likely be afforded tax breaks and the likes, while people like my family are being forced into an unwinnable situation.
This tax will essentially destroy the lifetime of work that I have created, losing income from the sale of animals, as well as the grants and schemes I obtain which are vital to the income of the farming community at large. To obtain these grants one must actively be farming as dictated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This can be verified with the Department of Agriculture, showing that my lands have been submitted for grant payments, and that I am, and always have been actively farming them.
I implore you to remove my land from this plan as it is, and always has been, used solely for the purposes of agriculture for generations before me, and I hope will remain that way for generations to come. I should not be pushed out of my livelihood because I happen to be located in an area that you have deemed appropriate to develop, completely disregarding the purpose it has served for so long. On your website, you state that the objective of the Residential Zoned Land Tax is “in order to increase housing supply and to ensure regeneration of vacant and idle lands in urban locations”. My lands are not, and never have been idle or vacant, and so I feel this should exempt me from being rezoned and liable for this proposed tax.
Regards,
[REDACTED]