Special agencies will need to be set up to oversee the development of towns designated as growth areas under the National Spatial Strategy, said the president of the Irish Planning Institute.
Addressing the institute's annual conference in Galway yesterday, Mr John Spain said the proposed agencies should be modelled on Ballymun Regeneration or the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. "These agencies should have strong links to existing local authorities. They should be fully effective, well resourced multidisciplinary bodies focused on the physical delivery of 'gateway towns' designated under the National Spatial Strategy."
He also warned that, if the strategy was to be successful in achieving balanced regional development, only a small number of gateway towns should be selected rather than large clusters or hubs.
"While we understand the need to ensure that all areas of the State benefit from infrastructural investment, giving something to each area will disperse . . . the available infrastructure and financial investment needed to strengthen the major gateways.
"Building new towns or rapidly expanding existing towns is a major challenge . . . At present most key towns in Ireland would be unable to adequately respond to ensure successful development without radical restructuring or the establishment of new agencies."
The institute's submission on the spatial strategy, which has yet to be adopted by the Government, said one of its key elements should be to identify and protect outstanding landscapes as part of the national culture and heritage.
Implementation of the overall strategy should be overseen by a managing authority, which would have the power to specify changes in local authority development plans to ensure they comply with the priorities set at national level.
The shortage of new houses could no longer be blamed on the planning system, Mr Spain said. The number of housing units granted planning permission had increased by 19 per cent between 1999 and 2000 from 76,500 to 91,200. "Housing construction, however, has not increased at anything like the same rate. Housing completions for 1999 were 46,502, and 49,812 in 2000. There is an increasing accumulation of unimplemented planning permissions for housing units."
He cited recent findings showing that professional planners are experiencing mistrust and frustration in local government, because their advice was not being accepted "for reasons which are either pragmatic or political".
Ms Mary Moylan, assistant secretary in charge of the Department of the Environment's planning division, said Ireland would only have a quality system if the public had confidence that the planning laws were being enforced.
