John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 before the House. Planning is an issue that affects all of us in many aspects of our daily lives. As I have said on many occasions, planning is about people. For this reason, I have adopted a very hands-on approach when it comes to improving the planning system.

Since coming into office, I have introduced a suite of guidance on sustainable residential development and on the integration of schools provision with the planning process. New guidance is also in preparation on local area planning and controlling development along national roads.

I also introduced regulations last year to encourage the uptake of cleaner and cheaper energy from renewable sources in the industrial, business and agricultural sectors by providing exemptions facilitating a greater penetration of renewable technologies in these sectors. I have also taken a strong stance with certain local authorities by issuing directions requiring them to amend their development plans where they have included excessive or inappropriate zonings. It is the problem highlighted by this latter issue that has been a strong motivating factor in developing this Bill.

The zoning of land through the development plan or local area plan processes is the basic decision that determines the quality of individual planning decisions on the ground. The majority of planning issues we face as a society today – such as over-zoning, inadequate provision for public transport, flooding, community infrastructure and amenity, and fluctuations in house and land prices - can be addressed and corrected. The lessons of the very recent past and the current flooding catastrophe have shown that we are suffering from inappropriate and chronic overzoning. The evidence is there for all to see and, frankly, it is a damning indictment of our system.

I am determined to put an end to the type of needless suffering and hardship we witnessed in the past week due to flooding. The Bill provides the central lever in this respect by providing for the inclusion in development plans of an objective for the carrying out of flood risk assessment as part of the control and regulation of development in areas at risk of flooding. My aim is to ensure that detailed flood risk assessment is fully integrated into the planning process. The inclusion of this provision in the Act will work in tandem with the guidelines on the planning system and flood risk management published on 30 November.

The key message from both the new provision in the Bill and the guidelines is the critical importance of addressing flood risk at the earliest possible stage in the planning process through the development plan. In this context, the guidelines highlight the need for a review of land which has been already zoned for development without the benefit of a detailed flood risk assessment in accordance with the guidelines, and where flood risk is now shown to be potentially significant.

It is no coincidence that our commuter towns are now suffering the most from the economic downturn. These are the towns where house upon house was built, and field upon field re-zoned, with little thought given to flood risk assessment, or where nothing was provided by way of community facilities or amenities. This is not my idea of sustainable communities. Scatterings of estates, poorly linked by transport, under constant threat of flooding, distant from schools and dependent on transport by car, must become a feature of our past, not our present or future. Sustainable, high quality living communities are what this country needs to assure its progression and competitiveness in the future.

The Bill before us addresses the planning issues I have identified and deserves the support of Deputies. I heartily welcome and acknowledge the constructive and robust contributions Senators have already made in developing this Bill. I would also like to thank my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, for taking the Bill through Committee and Report stages in the Seanad.

The purpose of the 2000 Planning Act, as stated in its long Title, is "to provide, in the interest of the common good, for proper planning and sustainable development". I have the greatest respect for locally elected councillors and people in planning departments across the local government system. They have managed to deal effectively with the large increase in the number and complexity of planning applications in the past few years. I do not want their work contaminated by that small number of people who use the planning system for their own gain.

I have already stated my intention to strengthen further the wider ethical framework for local government. The Green Paper on Local Government examined the operation of the regime at local level and concluded that greater coherence could be brought to its operation. The White Paper, which will be published shortly, will present a set of measures in that regard. My Department is also preparing a Bill to provide for the election of the directly elected mayor of Dublin in 2010. It is intended to use this Bill to introduce statutory protection for whistleblowers in the local government system building on the approach that has been introduced in many areas of the public service.

This planning Bill ranges over a number of different areas in the planning code. There are three parts in the Bill, which contains 40 sections, and I would now like to refer in some detail to the main provisions. As I said earlier, a sound development plan is the key to ensuring good planning at local level. Decisions taken at the development plan stage affect all other planning decisions.

A key element of the zoning reform is the introduction in section 5 of a requirement for an evidence-based core strategy in development plans which will provide relevant information as to how the plan and the housing strategy are consistent with regional planning guidelines and the national spatial strategy. The location, quantum and phasing of proposed development must be shown as well as growth scenarios, details of transport plans, retail development and proposals for development in rural areas. This more strategic approach to zoning will allow development take place at the right time and in the right place and will allow the State to plan for the provision of infrastructure with much greater certainty. This is key to the economic renewal agenda.

Requiring tighter management of land zoning and ensuring that the location and quantum of land zoned for development is in line with regional and local targets for growth over the period of the plan will help local authorities prioritise the provision of their own infrastructure and services to those places most likely to be developed during the plan.

Where the amount of zoned land in an area far exceeds the likely demand, as quantified in the core strategy of the development plan, I encourage planning authorities to consider using the existing down-zoning provisions in the 2000 Act. Alternatively, the development plan needs to make it clear that zoned land will be serviced, and prioritised in local area plans, following a sequential approach, that is, developing within and out from existing urban areas, using public transport corridors as far as possible. Development on "excess" zoned land will be regarded as premature until the need to develop such land is established in the core strategy of a future plan.

Amendments passed on Committee Stage in Seanad Éireann will further obligate planning authorities to vary development plans to provide for a core strategy not later than one year after the making of regional planning guidelines. This section provides that development plans will contain mandatory objectives for the promotion of sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas, including appropriate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Section 6 provides for the scope of submissions and observations on development plans to be much more strategic in nature. The development plan-making process will be more transparent and will move away from being distracted by proposals for zoning particular land parcels to a more strategic land use planning approach.

As a general approach, this Bill strengthens the status of regional planning guidelines and the role of regional authorities in the preparation or variation of such plans. Development plans will have to be consistent with the relevant regional planning guidelines and regional authorities will be required to make submissions to planning authorities on the key issues which a regional authority believes should be considered in the preparation of a draft development plan. The ongoing review and update of the regional planning guidelines to be finalised in the middle of next year, will be crucial to giving effect to this new legislative requirement.

I have heard the concerns attributed to the Carlow strategic planning committee and indeed noted the press release issued on its behalf following on from its members' recent visit to the Seanad Committee Stage proceedings. I hope they have listened carefully to the responses in the debate concerning the role of regional authorities and regional planning guidelines.

These guidelines are a combination of top-down and bottom-up contents. While regional planning guidelines are required to give effect to national spatial strategy objectives at regional level, they also reflect specific regional priorities. These can include regional economic strategies, to address identified strengths and weaknesses within a region; regional flood risk management, for example where a river catchment crosses county boundaries; and conservation of the built and natural heritage within a region.

These regional priorities are identified by the elected members and planning officials and are fed into the regional planning guidelines drafting process from the earliest stages, namely, the publication of the regional planning issues paper. The draft regional planning guidelines are prepared on foot of this public consultation and feedback from the members of the regional authority who will eventually give their approval to go on to the next round of public consultations. On foot of this the draft guidelines are modified as necessary and subsequently adopted by the members of the regional authority as final regional planning guidelines.

Sections 7 and 8 deal with the making and varying of a development plan, including a requirement that the manager's report addresses separately the issues raised by the Minister or the regional authority and that the report must include appropriate recommendations in relation to how these issues are to be addressed. This recognises the Minister's responsibility in law for the planning system and, in relation to the regional authority, its role in ensuring that regional planning issues are given due consideration in the shaping of the development plan.

The introduction of new land zonings late in the development plan process without consultation does not accord with the principles of fairness or transparency. All land zonings will now have to be the subject of public consultation at plan making stage or in a draft variation of a development plan. This is crucial from the point of view of ensuring public confidence in the zoning process.

Under this Bill, any further changes proposed by members to those amendments to the draft development that had been subject to public consultation - that is, the second consultation period - must now be supported by a two-thirds majority vote of the total number of members as opposed to a simple majority. I believe that this higher approval threshold should apply as such proposed amendments would not be subject to any further public scrutiny. I also believe that decisions on development plans, one of the most fundamental powers available to elected members, must involve the majority of the members. Similar provisions are also introduced under section 11 in relation to the local area planning process.

I recognise that the intent of the two-third majority voting threshold provisions could be made clearer in this Bill and it has been agreed with Senators that my Department will work with Parliamentary Counsel to bring forward Committee Stage amendments in this House to improve the text of these provisions.

Section 10 provides that the mandatory population threshold for preparing local area plans is raised from 2,000 to 5,000 persons. This move will in no way be to the detriment of rural settlements. It will remain the case that under section 18 of the Planning Act that a local area plan may be prepared in respect of any area which members of a planning authority consider suitable and, in particular, for those areas which require economic, physical and social renewal, irrespective of their population.

The Bill provides that the discretionary threshold for the preparation of a local area plan will be where the population is between 2,000 and 5,000 and where the relevant area is to be subject to large scale development within the lifetime of the plan. I believe that locally elected councillors are best placed to decide what areas would benefit from a local area plan. This Bill in no way ties the hands of councillors nor interferes with their legitimate decisions to develop particular local area plans. In order to ensure local area plans are comprehensively linked to the city or county development plan, which are reviewed every six years, their lifespan is being increased to 10 years under this Bill, although where a local area plan is no longer consistent with the city or county development plan because the development plan was reviewed or varied, there is a requirement to vary or review the local area plan within one year.

There is also provision made for the phasing of development within a local area plan, as already provided for within a development plan, particularly given that zoning objectives are provided for in a local area plan on foot of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002. Section 12 explicitly provides for the link between regional planning guidelines and the national spatial strategy. Under this Bill, regional planning guidelines shall be set within the policy framework of the national spatial strategy, including its population targets which are updated from time to time. Sections 13 to 16 strengthen the status of regional planning guidelines in relation to development plans and also strengthen the role of regional authorities in the preparation or variation of such plans. Section 13 provides that a development plan must be consistent with the regional planning guidelines in force for the area to help achieve coherence between the hierarchy of forward plans.

Regional authorities are, through sections 14 to 16, inclusive, given an explicit role in the pre-draft and the draft development plan preparation. They are also given a role in regard to the variation of development plan. The key aim is to ensure consistency and coherence between local planning and regional planning guidelines.

Sections 14, 15 and 16 also set a broader perspective for the areas to be covered in the regional authority's observations report. These can include co-ordinating development objectives across local authority boundaries and the strategic infrastructure requirements within a region to ensure regional priorities are being delivered.

Section 17 provides that a planning authority must demonstrate, by way of a statement when preparing and making a draft development plan, how it has implemented the policies and objectives of the Minister contained in guidelines issued under section 28 of the principal Act. Equally, as the case may be, planning authorities must detail the reasons such policies and objectives were not implemented. This will bring much greater clarity into how key guidelines prepared at national level regarding, for example, sustainable expansion of small towns and villages or the development of wind farms in scenic areas, are being dealt with at local level.

Section 18 deals with the complex and sometime controversial area of ministerial directions under section 31 of the Act. The simple fact is that planning decisions at local level cannot fly in the face of wider regional and national interests, especially those agreed and endorsed by the Government. For the sake of consistency, this Bill extends the ministerial powers to issue a direction to include local area plans, where many zoning decisions now are made by planning authorities. This Bill also introduces new consultative arrangements for section 31 directions. Once the Bill is enacted, and where the need arises to use these powers, a proposed or draft direction will be issued in the first instance to seek local views before any final direction is issued. These new processes take full account of the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in its March 2009 report.

Section 18 also provides for a discretionary provision for the Minister to appoint an independent inspector to review the manager's report prepared on foot of the public consultation on the proposed direction. Section 20 proposes an amendment to section 35 of the Act, which will allow a planning authority to refuse permission where the applicant has carried out a substantial unauthorised development, including a development with no permission, or has been convicted of an offence under the planning Acts, subject to certain conditions.

Section 21 amends the principal Act by providing for the extension of cost recovery to pre-application and scoping requests related to environmental impact assessment for strategic infrastructure development cases under the Seventh Schedule of the principal Act, in addition to cost recovery for cases that proceed to full application and determination by An Bord Pleanála. The amendments in section 22 are designed to remove any legal impediment to e-planning. The principal Act is amended to prescribe, for the avoidance of doubt, that a planning authority is authorised to display planning application documentation on its website. I have encouraged planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála to make greater use of information technology in processing planning applications and appeals. This can enhance the level of service provided to users of the planning system, whether as applicants or as members of the public, and it can bring efficiency savings to planning authorities and statutory consultees. My Department is such a consultee with regard to heritage issues and has developed pilot projects whereby planning applications can be referred to it electronically.

Section 23 amends the principal Act to provide for the extension of permission, for a period of up to five years, in circumstances where substantial works have not been carried out but in which commercial, economic or technical considerations existed, beyond the control of the applicant, which substantially militated against either the commencement of the development or the carrying out of substantial works. This section was amended on Report Stage in the Seanad to provide for the additional conditionally pertaining to the extension of such permissions.

Section 28 amends the principal Act to empower An Bord Pleanála to reduce the quorum for its meetings from three to two members on the recommendation of the chairperson that such a reduction is necessary to ensure the efficient discharge of the business of the board. This amendment, which has a number of built-in safeguards, aims to improve the throughput of An Bord Pleanála and to secure a higher compliance rate with the statutory objective period of 18 weeks for appeals.

Section 29 provides for an increase in the maximum fine to €5,000 for a summary offence under the planning Acts and for an increase to €1,500 for the maximum daily fine for a continued offence. Section 31 amends section 180 of the principal Act, which provides that a housing or residential estate would be taken in charge by the planning authority, in certain circumstances, on foot of a request from a majority of the owners or occupiers. The Law Reform Commission report on multi-unit developments recommended that it should be owners of units only who would have the right to determine whether the estate is taken in charge. This amendment implements the Law Reform Commission's recommendations.

Sections 32 and 33 amend sections 182B and 182D of the principal Act, respectively, to provide powers for An Bord Pleanála to recover costs at pre-application and determination in respect of applications for electricity transmission lines and strategic gas infrastructure. Section 35 modifies certain provisions of section 212 of the principal Act as they relate to the functions of the planning authority regarding the development of land. This amendment is intended to extend the scope of the powers of planning authorities to allow them take action to secure the creation, management, restoration or preservation of any site of scientific or ecological interest.

Section 37 was passed on Committee Stage in the Seanad and provides for the discounting of the Christmas holiday time period from any time limits in the development planning process. This section reflects the current provisions that apply to time limits in the development management process. Section 39 amends the First Schedule of the principal Act to provide for the inclusion in development plans of an objective for carrying out flood risk assessment as part of the control and regulation of development in areas at risk of flooding. This is to ensure that appropriate flood risk assessment is fully integrated into the planning process. To facilitate the provision of information to stakeholders on these new mechanisms for incorporating flood risk assessment into the planning process, as I mentioned earlier, my Department, in association with the Office of Public Works and following a comprehensive public consultation process, published guidelines for planning authorities on the planning system and flood risk management on Monday last. These guidelines explain in detail how to assess and manage flood risk at all stages of the planning process. The guidelines contain a commitment to a review of the exempted development provisions in the planning and development regulations, which currently allow for paving residential gardens to provide off-street car parking or hard landscaping. The review will be conducted as part of the overall review of these regulations to follow enactment of the Bill. The review will consider ways of ensuring that future exemptions will only apply where such developments comply with sustainable drainage principles. A definition of "flood risk assessment" is also provided under section 3.

Section 40 amends the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001 to provide An Bord Pleanála with powers to recover pre-application and determination costs in respect of applications for railway orders.

It is appropriate at this stage to signal some of the amendments I intend to introduce to this Bill on Committee Stage. Building on the action I took last year to close the legal gap with regard to planning applications for retention permission for developments that should have been subject to environmental impact assessment, I also intend to bring forward specific provisions on Committee Stage that will remove the possibility of retention for unauthorised development which should have been subject to environmental impact assessment, other than in very exceptional circumstances. In tandem with these amendments, I intend to revoke the current seven-year time limit within which enforcement action may be taken in respect of unauthorised development that should have been subject to environmental impact assessment.

The European Court of Justice also has ruled against Ireland with regard to failure to implement and transpose adequately into Irish law elements of the birds and habitats directives. It now has become necessary to integrate the requirements of these directives into Irish planning law. There are two central issues that need to be addressed. These are the screening and assessment of proposed land use plans and development proposals for their potential impact on European nature sites for the protection of birds and other species and habitats, collectively known as Natura 2000 sites, and measures to protect species of flora and fauna that are protected under Irish law from disturbance and destruction as a consequence of development.

I am confident the proposed reforms to be introduced on Committee Stage will address the recent European Court of Justice judgments against Ireland in this regard. I also intend to bring forward, by way of Committee Stage amendment, proposals to provide for the mandatory objectives in development plans for the protection and listing of undisputed rights of way and to provide for a legislative definition of "landscape" based on the definition of landscape set out in the European Landscape Convention.

This Bill is about enabling us to better deliver competitive and dynamic cities, towns and regions which will help to improve our quality of life in economic, social and environmental terms. It will contribute to the vision of a sustainable future for all and strengthen transparency, openness, democratic involvement and public participation in the planning system. More focussed land-use strategies will also result in more efficient use of taxpayers' money by allowing the State to target investment in essential infrastructure and services more accurately.

I look forward to engaging in these provisions and in the Government's and Opposition's amendments which I hope will be constructive and helpful on Committee Stage.

I commend this Bill to the House.

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