Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government when the planning guidelines published in February 2008 will take effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8191/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I published for public consultation the draft guidelines for planning authorities on sustainable residential development in urban areas on 10 February, together with an accompanying best practice urban design manual, which illustrates how these guidelines can be implemented. The 12 week public consultation period finishes on 6 May 2008 and I encourage all interested parties to submit their views within the consultation period.

The objectives of these new guidelines are as follows: to set out stronger planning requirements to facilitate the development of sustainable communities through strengthening planning and the provision of necessary supporting services and amenities; to help achieve the most efficient use of urban land through housing densities that are appropriate to the location involved and availability of supporting services and infrastructure, particularly transport; and to set high standards in terms of space and facilities to meet the needs of the Irish context.

The timescale for finalisation of the guidelines following the public consultation will be dependent on the volume and nature of the comments and submissions received. However, pending finalisation of the guidelines, planning authorities are asked to have regard to the recommended design standards for new residential developments in the draft guidelines when preparing or varying development plans and local area plans.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the guidelines. The Minister has spoken at length about his proposals regarding the capping of developments in villages but perhaps he could elaborate on this. The Green Party proposes to introduce local capital gains tax on zoned lands but will this be another stealth tax? What are the Minister's proposals on lands that have been zoned in villages to date? Will a levy or tax be placed on them?

As Deputy Hogan said, there is a need for proper infrastructure in our villages. In my county, Longford, sewerage schemes have been bundled together in Ardagh, Aughnacliffe and Ballinalee. Very little progress has been made on these schemes in the past decade because if one area failed to cross a "t" and another failed to dot an "i", all schemes would be held up. It was not a great system that was operated by the Department. In every area where a community was involved, perhaps there were more progressive people in one particular area or another who wanted to get the development off the ground. On another issue relating to planning, I would like to see greater uniformity——

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I am sure you would, Deputy. I call the Minister.

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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——throughout the country in regard to one-off houses. I have seen anomalies on the outskirts of villages. In County Longford, 14% of applications were refused, while 25,000 were refused in County Westmeath.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As a courtesy, will the Deputy please obey the Chair? Each Deputy has one minute but the Deputy has taken more than two minutes. Two other Deputies have indicated they would like to put a supplementary question.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Will I take the other questions?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Perhaps the Minister would take the questions put in case he loses track of the question.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I am trying to recall the question Deputy Bannon put to me.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I recall a reference to capital gains tax on land. The Government has no such proposal. The Deputy mentioned villages and towns. The draft guidelines state that in villages and towns of between 400 and 5,000 people, which are not designated as growth towns in the county development plan, the number of existing dwellings should not be increased by more than 15%. That makes sense. For example, a town of 5,000 would comprise approximately 2,000 dwellings. Applying the new guidelines should restrict new residential development to approximately 300 new dwellings, approximately 750 people over the lifetime of the plan. I believe that makes sense.

We spoke earlier about the legacy of bad planning and all the housing estates which have remained unfinished. I see examples of this as I go around Ireland. There are villages to which, quite inappropriately, a housing estate has been tacked on. Quite often there are no footpaths from the village to the housing estate. The whole idea behind taking in charge and the new guidelines is that this type of practice will cease. We will not get that again. The real losers are the people who live in those communities who do not have the facilities and are inconvenienced in a substantial way.

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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The problem with the guidelines is that they are just guidelines. I know the Minister wanted a formula where he would provide in the planning and development Act that councillors make decisions consistent with the guidelines. That still leaves a significant area open to interpretation by councillors, county managers and so on. Would the Minister consider setting out what he wants to do in the guidelines in the Act, similar to what was done by the previous Government when it set out what was required of strategic development zones, such as Adamstown? It was clearly set out in section 168 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 so that there was no room for manoeuvre. Developments had to be phased and tied to infrastructure. That worked very successfully. Also the guidelines will not stop people rezoning and that is the important thing.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the sustainable planning guidelines that have been issued for consultation. What the Minister said makes absolute sense in planning terms to avoid the type of willy-nilly development seen in many villages. Will the Minister agree we need to take account of the fact that one size does not fit all in regard to guidelines on these issues and that what might work in a large urban centre will not work in a village? High rise buildings beside a railway station may not be appropriate in a village setting. What does the Minister intend to do to ensure the guidelines are sufficiently robust while at the same time allowing for some latitude to cope with the different circumstances throughout the country?

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I will take Deputy Tuffy's question first. The new guidelines on sustainable residential development in urban areas will be issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, which states that local authorities must have regard to them in carrying out their function. I am also looking at what further steps might be needed to strengthen the decision-making process by local authorities in the zoning of land so that decisions arrived at are evidence-based and secure the necessary economic environmental and social benefits for local communities. I am planning legislation along those lines.

The point raised by Deputy Hogan is one that has been raised with me. People have asked how one can compare Leitrim to Dublin. There are different circumstances and, obviously, that is the case. Therefore, there is a degree of latitude there. Local planners will not confuse the fact that there is a low population in the Leitrim area and the level of density required would not be the same as Dublin. That is self-evident.