Sir, – Much has been written about An Bord Pleanála’s (ABP) recent controversy and the new planning proposals with an understandable focus on improvements to the planning process for large-scale housing developments and infrastructure projects.
While this is undoubtedly very important, little consideration has been given to the smaller subset of appeals that have been caught up in the disarray. I refer to homeowners who have been waiting far in excess of the statutory objective period for a decision on their planning permission appeal, at great financial cost, due to increasing prices for building materials and rising interest rates.
With ABP missing the statutory period and revised target dates in these appeals, in contravention of its own charter and action plan, the Minister for Housing should ask is this “one size fits all” approach to approvals correct for this end of the housing market and should a queueing system of a transparent nature not operate. – Yours, etc,
D COYLE,
Dundrum,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Jim O’Sullivan (Letters, December 16th) claims that I have failed (Letters, December 15th) to clarify “who gets to decide what is, and what is not, a material contravention of a local development plan”.
Typically in strategic housing developments and large-scale developments, material contraventions are identified in advance in the applications themselves, following consultation with local authorities where the applicant has to provide a justification for adding extra storeys conflicting, for example, with locally set upward modifier guidance and other additions not in keeping with a local development plan.
The primary method for residents’ associations to raise concerns about developments is through sending of observations to local authorities, An Bord Pleanála and contacting public representatives.
It is important not to exaggerate the significance of judicial reviews due to grounds of their cost and the fact that most residents’ associations don’t even consider pursuing that option for that reason. – Yours, etc,
Cllr JOHN KENNEDY,
(Fine Gael),
Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown County
Council Offices,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.