Foreign companies setting up manufacturing facilities in the State will no longer face lengthy planning delays as a result of third-party objections to their plans, according to new provisions in the Planning Bill.
The Bill provides for the establishment of Strategic Development Zones on "sites selected for development that is of strategic importance to the national economy". These sites must be approved by the Government and initiated by one of the development agencies.
Once these zones have gone through the planning process and been approved, planning permissions will be granted routinely for companies seeking to set up operations that accord with the overall plan for the zone.
The proposed change follows lobbying from the employers' organisation IBEC, the Industrial Development Authority and Forfas, which argued that some potential investors from abroad were put off setting up business in Ireland because of the fear of lengthy planning delays.
Under the new proposed measures, a detailed planning scheme will be prepared for those Strategic Development Zones and put through the full planning process, before individual projects for the site have been identified. A decision to adopt the scheme can be appealed to An Bord Pleanala.
Once this scheme is adopted by the relevant planning authority, individual companies seeking planning permission in accordance with the scheme will automatically receive such permission.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said that while this measure would curtail the opportunity for members of the public to object to particular projects, the planning process for the Strategic Development Zone itself would have the normal public participation. An Environmental Impact Assessment would be required for such zones, and third parties would be entitled to appeal the zoning to An Bord Pleanala.
According to the Department of the Environment these sites could be "offered to internationally mobile companies with a much greater degree of certainty both in relation to securing planning permission and the time horizon for same. The proposal does not involve any weakening of control systems but provides a means of disposing of the major planning issues before an individual project is identified."
The Government order setting up these zones must specify the type of development that may be established on the sites and give reasons why the particular site has been designated and why the particular type of development has been chosen for it. The planning schemes for the sites which have to go through the planning process must contain proposals on building, design, transport, services and how any impact on the environment will be minimised.
The Bill also allows for the revocation or amendment of a planning scheme when it is considered necessary to update or modify it.