Mr. Kevin Kelly:

That is very true but I can only speak on the basis of my experience. I have had direct involvement with five different authorities. The first issue was about limiting what can be asked for. That would pose significant difficulties. The question then arises of whether, if someone had the wherewithal to ask for further information on any issue, he or she can then get further clarification. The experience is that you sometimes end up with good applications which have merit but which are missing something. The general thrust of our approach in planning authorities generally is to see if good applications can be got over the line. We, therefore, ask for clarification and further information. From the perspective of a planning authority, it is way easier to just say that an application has not met the mark, to refuse it and to tell the applicant to go back to the drawing board but the approach we in planning authorities generally take is to try to work with people on good developments to ensure a positive outcome for the benefit of all.