Dáil debates

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

2:12 pm

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I also welcome the Bill. The bureaucratic system surrounding planning is fundamental in blocking or stopping development. That bureaucratic system has been allowed to develop because local authorities, An Bord Pleanála or others are unwilling to take decisions. We need to strip it back if we are serious about proper planning. We have seen the effects of negative planning but we have also seen how objections and delays have impeded welcome development in communities across the country, not just in the large urban centres but also in rural communities.

This Bill will help to tackle and resolve those issues and certainly brings into focus the role of local authorities. There is a reluctance by local authority planners to give a clear direction to people building houses as to what would be allowed. They simply outline the regulations, the development plans and so forth. Then they say it is entirely up to others to make decisions on it. I think that is a retrograde step. There should be clear guidance in any engagement between the local authorities and those who are willing to build. When they are leaving the meeting or series of meetings everybody should know what is acceptable to both sides. There is too much confusion and an inability to make clear decisions on some of these issues which is leading to frustration. That frustration is leading to people leaving the building and architectural industries.

A critical planning and development issue is local authorities' interpretation of the various planning and development Acts. Small community organisations in rural communities have been forced to engage senior counsel to get advice on the correct interpretation of the various planning and development Acts. It is unacceptable that they should need to do that and spend money they do not have to try to build a badly needed community facility.

Autonomy should be given to the local authorities allowing them to make decisions. I have seen a case where a layman's interpretation of the law would side with the local community organisation to build a community facility. The planning authority is refusing on the basis that its interpretation of the law is different. It is totally unacceptable for a local community to have to engage legal people to get advice. There is frustration with the entire planning system. Whether for large developments or smaller developments, there needs to be goodwill to meet community organisations face-to-face to try to thrash out the issues.

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