Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 93:

In page 52, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“Construction of Fifth Schedule (conditions which may be imposed, on the granting of permission to develop land, without compensation) to Principal Act

25. (1) The Act of 2016 is amended by inserting the following section after section 25:

“Construction of Fifth Schedule (conditions which may be imposed, on the granting of permission to develop land, without compensation) to Act of 2000 during specified period

25A. The Fifth Schedule to the Act of 2000 has effect during the specified period as if in paragraph 1 ‘or section 9(4) of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016’ were inserted after ‘section 34(4)(g)’.".

(2) Section 1(3) of the Act of 2016 (which relates to commencement of provisions of that Act) applies to the commencement of the amendment provided for by subsection (1).".

This block of amendments all relate to provisions of the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, the 2016 Act, regarding strategic housing development and have accordingly been grouped together for discussion. Amendment No. 93 inserts a new section in the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 providing that compensation shall not be payable in respect of the inclusion of a condition in a planning permission for a strategic housing development requiring the giving of security for the satisfactory completion of the proposed development. A similar provision is already in place under the Planning and Development Act 2000 in respect of such a condition included in a standard non-strategic housing development planning permission. The amendment will only apply for the duration of the provisions relating to strategic housing developments, namely, until 2021.

I am opposing amendment No. 94 which proposes to delete the provision in subsection 7(3) of the 2016 Act which states that a person shall not question the validity of a determination by or an opinion of the board under that section by reason only that the procedures set out in subsection (2) were not completed within the timeframe referred to in the subsection. This subsection is similar to existing provisions in other sections of the 2016 Act relating to strategic housing development, namely, section 5(4), section 6(12),section 8(7)and section 9(15) and 9(16). The strategic housing development provisions in the 2016 Act provide for a streamlined application process for large-scale housing developments of more than 100 units and this is underpinned by a constituent number of timelines throughout the decision-making process. In this context, I recognise that, despite the best endeavours of all parties, from the pre-consultation to the final decision stage, there is the potential and possibility for some slippage in the component deadlines to be met in progressing applications. To this end, I wish to ensure that the overall strategic housing development process should not be derailed and that the validity of any steps or decisions taken by the board that are outside the stated timelines will not prevent strategic housing developments applications from proceeding. Therefore, I oppose this amendment which would delete this provision for large-scale housing developments.

Government amendment No. 95 amends section 27 of the Bill as it stands, which in turn amends section 8 of the Planning (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 dealing with requirements relating to applications for strategic housing development. In cases where an applicant is required to notify a trans-boundary state of an application in respect of a strategic housing development that may significantly affect the environment of that state, amendment No. 95 removes the requirement that the authorities to be notified must be prescribed in regulations. As the identity of the appropriate authority in other states to be notified in relevant cases changes frequently, it is preferable to have the flexibility of updating the appropriate authorities in other states on an administrative basis rather than having to amend the regulations regularly. The procedure in appropriate cases will be that An Bord Pleanála will inform the applicant which authority in another state should be notified of the making of the strategic housing development application with a view to giving that authority the opportunity to make a submission or observations to the board on the matter.

In regard to amendment No. 96, section 10 of the 2006 Act currently requires An Bord Pleanála to inform the public of its decision on an application for permission in respect of a proposed strategic housing development by way of a notice in one or more newspapers circulating in the area concerned. This amendment proposes to request the board instead to publish its decision on its website. This manner of publishing a decision is considered to be proportionate, having regard to the nature of the project and the earlier publication of a notice inviting submissions or observations on the proposed development when the application was being made to the board.

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