Mr. Paul Hogan:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for inviting the Department to participate in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the planning and development (amendment) (LSRD) Bill 2021. By way of introduction, my name is Paul Hogan and I am chief planning adviser in the Department. I am accompanied by my colleagues Mr. Colin Ryan, senior planning adviser, Mr. Conor O’Sullivan and Ms Ciara Gallagher from the planning division of the Department.

The primary purpose of the proposed legislation is to replace the fast-track planning arrangements introduced in 2017 in respect of strategic housing developments, SHDs, allowing for the submission of planning applications for such developments directly to An Bord Pleanála and to largely restore - with some modifications - decision-making to local planning authorities, in the first instance, with the possibility of subsequent appeal to the board. As members will be aware, the SHD arrangements were introduced against the background of the housing supply shortage situation then pertaining, the delays being experienced in the obtaining of planning permission for such developments and the associated need to accelerate planning decision-making in respect of such developments. They were designed with a view to facilitating increased housing supply and providing greater certainty around the planning timelines for considering and determining planning applications for such developments.

The SHD arrangements delivered on their core objective of delivering fast-track planning permission for such developments. All pre-application consultations on SHD proposals between the board, the relevant local authority and the developer have been concluded within the prescribed mandatory nine-week period while up to the end of July 2021, all decisions on subsequent planning applications, with the exception of two, have been made by the board within the mandatory 16-week timeline, or 24 weeks where an oral hearing was required.

As of end of July last, the SHD arrangements had resulted in the approval of 210 development proposals comprising 13,199 houses, 29,938 apartments and 9,174 build-to-rent properties, giving a total of 52,311 residential units, as well as 13,091 student bed spaces and 1,330 shared accommodation bed spaces. It is worth noting that the number of apartments approved annually under the SHD arrangements trebled since their commencement in line with the Government's aim under the national planning framework to secure more compact growth in our cities and towns.

While successful in their primary objective of delivering speedier planning decisions for housing developments, the SHD arrangements have, however, been the subject of some criticism. First, while the number of number of housing units granted planning permission has significantly increased, the actual subsequent activation rate of these permissions has been less than might have been expected given the benefits associated with the fast-track SHD process. Second, they have reduced local authority involvement in final decision-making on planning applications and, third, the only mechanism against planning decisions under the SHD process is by way of judicial review, resulting in a significant increase in the number of judicial review challenges against large-scale housing developments than was previously the case, particularly over the last year or so.

In light of the foregoing factors, the new programme for Government committed not to further extend the SHD arrangements and instead restore the previous and more standard two-stage planning process while also seeking to retain some of the positive elements of the SHD arrangements, namely, mandatory pre-application consultation and decision timelines. Further to the programme for Government commitment in this regard, a SHD consultative forum, chaired by the Department and comprising representation from a range of relevant stakeholders, including the Local Government Management Agency, An Bord Pleanála, the Construction Industry Federation-Irish Home Builders Association, the Irish Planning Institute and other groups representing the property sector, was established in December 2020 to formulate new planning arrangements to replace the SHD arrangement.