A senior engineer with Sligo County Council says proposed increases in development contributions is solely related to the size of houses that are being built.
He was commenting after some rural councillors voiced fears that the increases would hit the building of one-off rural houses in their areas.
Development contributions go toward the cost of local infrastructure and facilities used by those building, living in or using a building for which planning permission was granted.
Sligo County Council is now proposing to increase the contribution for dwelling houses from €2,400 to €2,700.
Meanwhile the contributions for commercial develpments is to be reduced from €3,344 to €3,000.
Fianna Fail Councillors Joe Queenan and Martin Baker, and Independent Margaret Gormley, claim the increase would hit one-off rural housing.
Cllr Queenan says some of the services that these contributions help pay for have very little bearing on people living in rural areas.
But Senior Planner with Sligo County Council Frank Moylan says that while people are building a house in a rural area, they are using services in local towns and villages.
He also said it had nothing to do with rural or urban but rather the size of the house being built.
Submissions or observations on the new proposals for development contributions in Sligo can be made during the next six weeks.
