The Yilan farmhouse controversy may finally come to an end, as Chen Chi-chung says the county government has accepted the central government's position.
The controversy over Yilan farmhouse regulations may soon come to an end! Yilan County's plan to enact the "Regulations Governing the Review of Applications to Build Farmhouses and Agricultural Facilities on Agricultural Land and the Permitted Use Thereof" has been mired in controversy, from farmhouses not needing to be configured adjacent to a road or side to merging farmhouses and agricultural facilities into a combined 40% of area, which is considered to conflict with central government regulations.
After more than two months of long-distance sparring between the local and central governments, the situation took a major turn after Yilan County Magistrate Chen Chin-te met with the central government recently. Chen Chi-chung, Deputy Minister of the Council of Agriculture, said today (the 9th), "The Yilan County Government fully accepts our views and will not combine farmhouses and agricultural facilities into a single review regulation." Chen Chi-chung explained, "Let farmhouses be farmhouses and facilities be facilities, because the two have always had their own separate review regulations."
In response to media reports pointing out that the Yilan County Government will still guide farmers to make "appropriate configurations" for farmhouses in accordance with the Council of Agriculture's "Administrative Guiding Principles" on farmhouse construction locations, without necessarily requiring them to be adjacent to a road or side, Chen Chi-chung emphasized, "We cannot possibly agree to farmhouses not being adjacent to a road or side," and the farmhouse review operation guidelines currently being planned and enacted by the Yilan County Government will also only be made public after communication and discussion with the central government.
Yilan County Government: Still deliberating what kind of regulations to enact for farmhouse management
The Yilan County Government will also separately enact farmhouse review operation guidelines for the farmhouse management portion, and will also separately enact related guidelines or autonomous ordinances for agricultural facilities. Chen Chi-chung stated that after communication with the Council of Agriculture, the Yilan County Government has specifically stated that it will handle matters in accordance with Council of Agriculture policy, "and the Yilan County Government's farmhouse review guidelines will only be publicly announced and implemented after joint discussion with the Council of Agriculture is completed."
Yilan County Government spokesperson Shao Chih-chi, however, stated, "The regulations have not yet been finalized. Will it ultimately be regulations, guidelines, or autonomous ordinances? All of this is still under deliberation, and we have not yet reached the stage of finalizing the draft." However, Chen Chi-chung stated that if laws are enacted they need to be submitted to the Council of Agriculture for review, while if local operating rules are enacted they do not, "but regardless of which type, the Yilan County Government will only make a public announcement after communication with the Council of Agriculture is completed. The Council of Agriculture provides recommendations on its understanding of central regulations to the county government, and they will discuss matters in accordance with those recommendations."
Chen Chi-chung: Farmhouses must be adjacent to a road or side, except for special individual cases
Regarding the highly controversial regulation requiring farmhouses to be adjacent to a road or side, have both sides reached a consensus? Chen Chi-chung stated, "Originally both sides agreed that farmhouses should be adjacent to a road or side, with special circumstances to be deliberated by local governments themselves." He emphasized that as a general rule, farmhouses must be adjacent to a road or side, "We cannot possibly agree to farmhouses not being adjacent to a road or side," and as for special circumstances, these vary by individual case, and localities can handle different cases separately.
But what counts as a special individual case? Tsai Chin-lung, Section Chief of the Rural Construction Division of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, explained that farmhouses must be adjacent to a road or side, but conditions on the ground vary across counties and cities, and the existing regulations stipulate that special terrain is exempt from this restriction. "This gives local governments flexible space. Localities take on-site conditions into account, and if the terrain is special, such as differences in elevation, then it is not necessarily required to be adjacent to a road or side, but the highest principle is still not to affect agricultural production and rural development, and to maintain the integrity of agricultural land." Extended reading: Council of Agriculture slaps its own face again over the "Chin-te version farmhouse" Chen Chi-chung: Without agriculture there are no farmhouses, local governments have no right to enact separate formats Read Here: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsmarket.com.tw%2Fblog%2F104477%2F%3Futm_source%3Demail%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dnewsmarket" class="nc_tweet"> Email
