Sir, – The serious time delays with An Bord Pleanála making decisions on appeals are becoming more and more problematic.
Many local authorities have recently adopted new county and city development plans with new policies and objectives, some of which are significantly different to the previous plan that were in situ. This includes zoning objectives and the types of land uses allowed under zoning objectives. The board will have regard to the county development plan in force at the time of their decision making, not the plan that was in force when the application was lodged, or indeed the appeal. Given the delays involved at the board, there is now a very real possibility that many applicants who applied for planning permission well before the end of a development plan, but ended up in the appeal system via a third party or wanting to challenge a council decision themselves, will now be caught by significant changes under a replacement plan. This was always a risk in the past for applicants who lodged applications close to the end of a county or city development plan, but seems inherently unfair to those applicants who applied well before the end of a plan and factored in a reasonable time for a possible appeal. The current delays could never have been envisaged as they are extraordinary and unprecedented. The reality is that an applicant who obtained planning permission from a local authority, often after months of engagement, could now be at risk of being refused permission at appeal stage due to a change in policy or objective in a new development plan simply due to the delays of a State body. Unfortunately, it is highly likely that planning applications for housing developments are likely to be affected by this scenario, which will only add further to the delivery of houses in a housing crisis. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MULCAHY,
David Mulcahy
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Planning Consultants Ltd,
Newbridge,
Co Kildare.