Sir, – While I agree with Michael O’Flynn that the supply of housing should be treated as an emergency, I cannot agree with his well-worn narrative that the citizens’ role in the planning system is to blame for the shortfall (“Solving the housing crisis requires new body empowered to clear blockages in system”, Business, Opinion & Analysis, July 8th).
The data shows that this is not the case.
Nor is it true to say that we are outliers in the number of opportunities that the citizen has to appeal or judicially review planning decisions – there is one opportunity to appeal a decision and one opportunity to seek judicial review of the decision, exactly the same as anywhere else. This is what the rule of law means.
His view that the right of the individual trumps the common good is also a well-worn argument.
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It might be better applied to the developer trumping the common good in the search for profit. Regarding the well-worn reference to nimbyism, we all need to be good citizens as well as good neighbours.
Julian Baggini, writing on the subject in the Financial Times last Saturday, writes that “Development needs to be sensitive to the existing character of an area as well as its future needs. And people need to feel as though they have some influence, not that their concerns ... will just be ignored.”
As a well-established, respected home-builder, his call to establish the Housing Delivery Oversight Executive should be heeded by Government, so that we can solve the housing challenge based on facts, not sectoral narratives.
The Housing Commission Report is the first comprehensive attempt to address the issue and appears to be set to be ignored by Government. This should not be allowed to happen. – Yours, etc,
ROBIN MANDAL, FRIAI
Dublin 6.