Sir, – I write with reference to “The Irish Times view on the planning Bill: time to get on with it” (October 4th).
The headline and content of your editorial seeks to perpetuate the notion that Nimbyism is a problem in the planning process.
The reality is that less than 5 per cent of planning decisions are appealed and that less than 1 per cent are the subject of a judicial review.
There is a correlation between the number of judicial reviews and the Government’s failed Strategic Housing Development (SHD) strategy. The only facility open to citizens to object to flawed planning decisions granted under SHD was a judicial review.
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In its current guise, the new planning Bill will further curtail objections from residents with legitimate concerns to large-scale residential developments, the present iteration for SHDs, by preventing collective objections from residents’ associations, unless those associations were in existence prior to the initiation of the contentious planning application. The cost of a judicial review is beyond the means of most citizens and can only be achieved through a collective approach.
The proposed Bill as presently constituted is undemocratic and nothing more than a developers’ charter. Hence the need for considered and probing analysis of its content. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DINEEN,
Cork.