Greater clarity, consistency and certainty in planning to be delivered with new legislation

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, and the Minister of State for Planning and Local Government, Peter Burke, have welcomed the government’s approval today for the Draft Planning and Development Bill 2022. The Bill, if enacted, will bring greater clarity, consistency and certainty to how planning decisions are made. It will make the planning system more coherent and user-friendly for the public and planning practitioners. The Bill will be published in early 2023.

Housing for All, the government’s housing plan, committed to a comprehensive review and consolidation of planning legislation.

Among the main provisions in the Bill, the product of a 15-month review of the planning system led by the Office of the Attorney General, are:

strengthened legal status for Ministerial guidelines: Ministerial guidelines and policy directives will be upgraded to ‘National Planning Policy Statements’ and ‘National Planning Policy Guidance’. These will be approved by Government. Alignment of other planning documents with these will be mandatory
amended focus and lifespan of Local Development Plans: these will be extended from six years to ten years, with a review after Year 5. Plans will be more strategic in nature. They will give a strong sense of what is being planned for particular areas before any planning applications emerge. This will help ensure that public engagement and major local debate is focused on the plan-making rather than planning application stage. It will facilitate greater clarity and long-term visibility of planning outcomes. Local Area Plans will be replaced by specific types of area-based plans to meet particular needs (Urban Area Plans; Priority Area Plans; Joint Area Plans; Strategic Development Zones/Urban Development Zones)
statutory mandatory timelines for all consent processes, including An Bord Pleanála (ABP) decisions, to bring certainty to the planning consent process. Timelines are being introduced for appeals and consents applications made to ABP (including Strategic Infrastructure Developments). Where ABP fails to make decisions with these timelines, it will be subject to fines. The exact timelines will be included in the finalised Bill. It is intended that the timelines for ABP will be introduced on a phased basis, starting with those for Strategic Infrastructure Developments (including energy projects)
changes to Judicial Reviews (JRs) of planning decisions: there will be timelines for various steps in the JR process. ABP will be able to correct an error of fact or law in a planning decision and will be able to apply for a stay on the determination of JR proceedings whilst making such corrections. The Bill will bring clarity to the role of different parties in accessing justice. In the case of applications for JRs by certain organisations, these will be taken by an individual or individuals
a re-structuring of An Bord Pleanála: the agency will be re-named An Coimisiún Pleanála and its decision-making and governance structures separated. It will consist of Planning Commissioners (consisting of a Chief Planning Commissioner and up to 14 full-time Planning Commissioners), who will replace the Chairperson and Board Member roles. A new Governing Executive (led by a Chief Executive) will be responsible for the organisation’s governance and organisation

Welcoming government approval of the Draft Bill, Minister O’Brien said:

“This major overhaul of the planning system will provide clarity to those who use the planning system: those seeking to build or engage in other activities, and those who want to have their say. It will ensure consistency between European and national law and between different tiers of plan-making. And through provisions such as statutory and mandatory timelines, it will give users of the planning system greater certainty.

“These reforms will ensure we have a modern, efficient planning system, with coherence between policies, plans and decisions. They will ensure key infrastructure like housing and renewable energy systems can be built with certainty for those planning it, and with public participation and environmental protection informing the process.”

Commenting on the reforms and changes to ABP, Minister of State for Planning and Local Government, Peter Burke, said:

“More than 30,000 planning applications pass smoothly through the planning system per year, but the landscape in which planning operates has understandably changed over the past two decades. We need to build on what we are succeeding in doing well whilst ensuring that the planning system is fit for the modern era. The restructuring of An Bord Pleanála into An Coimisiún Pleanála will result in an important separation of decision-making and the corporate/organisational roles and increase public confidence in the capacity of the board to make decisions in a fair manner, underpinned by independence, impartiality and integrity.”

Other significant changes contained in the Draft Bill include:

clearer distinction between different categories of consents (Standard Planning Application; Applications made directly to ABP; Alterations, extensions and revocations of permissions and local authority and State authority developments)
costs protection in JR cases: costs protection for judicial review cases, providing that there will not be any order for costs in any such proceedings unless the Court considers that the proceedings are frivolous or vexatious or an abuse of process
increased clarity regarding environment assessments in planning process: greater integration of the scope and role of environmental assessments into plan-making functions and the consenting process
increased capacity for local authorities to utilise Compulsory Purchase Orders in pursuance of their functions, for example, to acquire vacant or derelict properties for onward sale, for example, to develop for residential use

The Draft Planning and Development Bill will be published in January and progress to pre-legislative scrutiny and enactment in early 2023.

A policy guide to the new Draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 is available below.

Outline of the proposed Planning and Development Bill

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Greater clarity, consistency and certainty in planning to be delivered with new legislation

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