Results 8,301-8,320 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: All of us have an interest in protecting our heritage and, especially, our protected structures. Every time I see the Minister of State walking around the Chamber, he has some book or other on architectural heritage or protection tucked under his arm-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: -----so I know he has a keen interest in the matter. He has done some good work in this area. My amendments would improve the process and protect our structures further. In amendment No. 982 to section 276, I suggest that the record of protected structures be a separate document on a local authority website. If one wants to find a protected structure now, one needs to access the county...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 984 relates to section 279(2)(c) and putting public notices on a website. This section is on the procedure for making additions, deletions and amendments to the record of protected structures, and paragraph (c) reads: "cause notice of the proposed addition, deletion or amendment, including the particulars of the proposed addition, deletion or amendment, to be published in at...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: If it is helpful, section 283(1) includes that wording, so it is already in the Bill. To make sure it is consistent-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: We have not done all the amendments. We have done amendments Nos. 982 and 984 and I accept the response of the Minister of State. With regard to amendment No. 985, it is a little disappointing. The conservation officer is generally within planning services - that is my experience, anyway. I am trying to ensure that we have somebody who is suitably qualified.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: On the planning services, are they are required to liaise with the conservation officer before making a decision?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Yes but the current wording does not oblige them. It just says "it shall". Perhaps the Department could look at "in consultation with the conservation officer, it shall" or something like that?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Okay. Does the Minister of State wish to address amendments Nos. 993 and 996?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Yes, and we can go back to the others in the group then.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I accept that we do want to leave some flexibility for the local authorities. The reason I propose "shall" is to oblige them to do it because anyone who has ever dealt with planning authorities knows that they are extremely busy and sometimes the protected structure stuff just falls down the list a little bit because of all of their other duties. What I was trying to do was to give them a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: If somebody carries out works on a protected structure and takes out the old sash windows and boards them up with a bit of plywood, he or she could use section 281 (5) (b) as a defence and say that the work was "undertaken in good faith solely for the purpose of temporarily safeguarding the structure".

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 990 seeks to put a timescale on this. If somebody has carried out temporary works to safeguard a building's structural integrity or some other aspect of it, where is the obligation to return, undo that work and make good the structure or building? If this is used as a defence for such work, how will the work be undone and the structure or building made good again?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am worried there could be sliding degradation of a building as somebody carries out temporary works because of water ingress, vandalism or people getting into the building. Such a building could be going into dereliction before our eyes over ten, 15, 20 years or longer. Subsection 281(5) allows a person to carry out such works, notwithstanding their other obligations under the Act. My...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: The local authority must act. As we all know, enforcement probably has been the weakest aspect of our planning authorities.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Once we get the local authority to act, however, this issue is covered in these provisions and there are timeframes associated with it. The local authority has the power to make the owner undo temporary works. Is that correct?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: It is a resource and focus of local authorities to do that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Regarding my amendment No. 991, could works that might be carried out under section 281 be relied upon as reasoning to remove a structure from the list of protected structures?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: We often see reports on protected structures indicating that works have been done that have degraded them, with the report questioning, as a result of those works that were done in the past, whether a building should remain as a protected structure. This is something of which we need to be aware and cautious. Where there is a slow degradation that is purposely done, it gives an owner good...