A big overhaul of planning laws by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is an effort to restore public confidence in a system hobbled by delay and disarray in basic decision-making. Add into the mix turmoil at An Bord Pleanála and excessive litigation and it is clear that the dysfunctional regime is ripe for reform. But will the proposed changes work?
At root, O’Brien aims to streamline the system so there is greater clarity, predictability and consistency in the way applications are determined. By imposing mandatory timelines on all consent procedures, the objective is to deliver decisions more speedily. To encourage compliance and punish inertia, fines are in prospect for any bodies that fail to meet deadlines. This alone is not the panacea for the multifaceted housing crisis, but the elimination of planning logjams is crucial. Still, housing will have to wait as deadlines will apply first to energy and infrastructure projects.
Local alignment with national planning policy will be mandatory, so there should be more certainty. The legislation introduces urban area plans for key towns and regional growth centres, priority plans for a “sub-part” of an urban area and joint plans where more than one local authority is in charge. Such measures must align with wider council development plans, which, in turn, must fit in with the 2040 national plan. Moreover, An Bord Pleanála and local authorities will have only limited margin to make decisions that materially contravene development plans. These are positive steps, assuming rigour in the execution and enforcement as new rules bed down.
Critical here is the final arbiter role of An Bord Pleanála, discredited after deep controversy and now set, in a bid to undo the damage done, for a new name as the Planning Commission – An Coimisiún Pleanála. The separation of decision-making on consents by 15 planning commissioners from the executive that will run the institution is but a start on a long road – indeed the process for appointing these commissioners is one likely area for debate. Meanwhile, new Planning Regulator’s powers to investigate complaints of a systemic nature at An Bord Pleanála point to a lack of effective oversight in the old regime.
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O’Brien wants to bar residents’ associations from taking High Court actions in planning cases. This is contentious and the Green Party has some concerns. The move flows from anxiety at surging actions against fast-track housing, under laws with no appeal mechanism short of court. Such laws have since been replaced yet the Minister argues it is proportionate in a housing emergency to make it more difficult to challenge consents and to allow defendant planning authorities to pause court action against them so they can correct an “error of fact or law”. This will be tested in cabinet and in Oireachtas debate. But the ultimate test is more likely in the Supreme Court.