Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome fast-track planning on the basis that it is transparent and accountable. The Minister has said that the notice is transparent. It is accountable in terms of going to a statutory body with a lot expertise and must have due regard to the development plans as presented.

My concerns remain in terms of planning abuses and I refer to my Dáil ceantair, particularly the portion of east Meath. I have studied the minutes of meetings and discovered instances where officials were over-ruled by councillors, shopping centres appeared in areas that they were not supposed to be, houses were built on flood plains and the most appalling, and in my view, disgraceful planning took place. Notwithstanding the views of members, this was clearly stated on the record of the council officials. I believe there should be a planning checklist and it is up to the Minister to decide whether he wants to legislate for same. Notwithstanding the fact that this matter will not go to a local authority in this case, there should be a checklist to ensure connectivity within the existing communities. I believe there should be an assessment of the educational needs of the area concerned and footpaths, lighting and other issues should be connected. If that does not happen then housing estates will be badly supported in terms of services available and there will be issues with shopping. I accept and acknowledge that we are talking about housing today. The Minister must ensure that there is social infrastructure, particularly community buildings and health centres, which are missing from many housing estates.

The Minister mentioned housing estates consisting of 100 houses. What happens if a person applies for planning permission to build a significant number of houses, multiple applications or concurrent applications? In such instances we need to ensure that all aspects of the community are connected. It is critical that each development has open spaces for recreation and sports that are open to the public. All of these issues were lost sight of in previous planning histories that I have examined. I am in favour of this section of the Bill given the current housing crisis. I hope that my view will not amount simply to nice words that one hears at a meeting from the likes of me but can be followed through in order to avoid the hassles of previous years.

I am old enough to remember a building scheme that was built by a company called MFN. The company was nicknamed money for nothing because it built houses without exterior walls and chimneys. It also built in part of the estate that had no access to a road and, therefore, bins could not be collected. In the past some crazy planning applications were successful. We also experienced what is called Walt Disney houses where one could look out one's front door and straight into the parlour of the house next door. There was no privacy. We need to ensure that the quality of the planning and standards are up to scratch. All of these issues should be vigorously tested at the planning stage.