CIF Director of Housing, Planning and Development Conor O’Connell outlines the current state of play for planning reform
As every builder will testify, planning is one of the most difficult issues they are facing now.
Some of the recent exposure of builders being asked to make payments, or ‘go away money’, is just one example of a dysfunctional planning system that takes too long and is subject to too many delays.
Late last year after conducting an analysis of planning delays, we estimated that there were over 60,000 homes held at An Bord Pleanála or at Judicial Review in the High Court.
Some people are taking advantage of the length of time it takes to get a decision, in the process delaying the necessary supply of new homes and infrastructure.
For a number of years, we and others have been campaigning for reform of our planning system. It is obvious that the system is not resourced sufficiently and that the legislation and regulatory environment needs to be reformed.
Late last year it was announced that a new division of the High Court would be formed to deal with the significant amount of litigation in relation to planning decisions.
An Bord Pleanála were in crisis but thankfully 15 temporary appointments were made to help clear the backlog and these are in the process of being permanently appointed.
The number of employees at An Bord Pleanála is also due to increase to 300 and a recruitment campaign is currently underway. However, it is likely to take another six months before the backlog of applications is dealt with.
Unfortunately, the reputational damage to Ireland Inc because of the many planning delays has been significant – from the Apple case in Athenry to more recent applications for high density residential developments in city centres being delayed by several years.
A new Planning and Development Bill is undergoing scrutiny through the Oireachtas Housing and Planning Committee. This 700 page Bill is the third biggest piece of legislation in the history of the State.
Many aspects are welcome such as the timelines for decision making, the 10-year development plan cycle and potential restrictions around, which bodies can object but the fear amongst many is that we are simply dealing with too many unknowns in relation to interpretative matters in the Bill.
We will know more once the revised Bill is published this month.
The CIF and IHBA have made extensive suggestions in relation to the contents from appearing in front of the Oireachtas Housing Committee to written legal and planning reports.
The contents will no doubt be poured over by legal and planning experts but most members would agree that resourcing the planning system is critical.
The addition of planners to the critical skills list should happen to allow professional planners working in countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa easily apply for vacant positions in Ireland.
Of course, legislation is not the only important consideration and the revision of the National Planning Framework to forward plan our population growth is a vital cog in the overall reform of our planning system.
This revision should cater for a far more significant increase in the population than the last NPF and should also factor in obsolescence and household formation rates so that we get a far more accurate range for the number of homes we need to construct.
The consultation process begins in late June, early July and work is already underway on our report into this public consultation.
In summary an unprecedented package of reform is underway, some already done such as the introduction of the LRD process for residential applications, the introduction of the Compact Growth Guidelines and funding of extra resources for An Bord Pleanála. But there is a lot yet to do.
We eagerly await the publication of the revised Planning and Development Bill, the revision of the National Planning Framework, hopefully some interim measures to deal with the zoning of serviced land in the Greater Dublin area and the introduction of extra courts to deal with planning appeals.
