Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

One of the things was to engage the public earlier in these processes and have a more meaningful public consultation process rather than just coming in to look at a map on the wall and trying to figure out what might be there. In the planning Bill, nor in this one, I cannot really see what measures would be put in place to try to improve that public consultation process. That would take a lot more work from local authority planners, to really engage with people. To really go through it, they would not just be talking about coloured zones on a map which are very hard for people to visualise.

The Royal Institute of Architects discussed the use of 3D modelling with us. That would necessitate a third party contractor at local authority level. We cannot expect local authorities to be doing 3D printing of models. However, there needs to be a refocusing of resources if we want good public consultation, good land activation and good outcomes. We do not want people to be dissatisfied and seeking judicial reviews.