Results 1,241-1,260 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I have a couple of questions for the Minister of State in this regard. I seek clarity in respect of amendment No. 28. While I understood what the Minister of State said, I am not sure it makes complete sense. It is proposed that the planning authorities will send a notice under the relevant section of a proposal to make, amend or revoke a local area plan and will publish that notice under...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I do not intend any disrespect to the Minister of State or anyone else but the answer that something is there because one has been advised to put it in is not an answer. I presume it is there on advice. I do not doubt that the Parliamentary Counsel advised it. My question is why is it there? We should get a clearer response, with all due respect. The basic proposition is that it is a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I do not wish to prolong this because we are not on the same wavelength on this issue. If we accept the Minister of State's amendment, the Bill will require a notice requirement only where there was a previous plan. If there was no previous plan then subsection (c) does not apply. That is the effect of the amendment. I am trying to find out what are the notice requirements in...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I will not engage in the manner of the previous discussion where, suffice to say, there are many glasshouses with objects bouncing off them. I will not indulge in that approach. I wish to return to the two issues I raised previously. I was not going to return to amendment No. 28 as the Minister of State pointed out that he is only changing one word but for two reasons I will briefly return...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: Would the legal position of the survivability of the zoning be no different irrespective of land being zoned in a development plan or a local area plan?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I refer to Government amendments Nos. 30 and 31 and to amendment No. 31 in particular. I take it that the two amendments I tabled still must be taken. I draw the Minister of State's and the Cathaoirleach's attention to amendment No. 31 because it seems to propose deleting lines 1 to 41 on page 16. Am I correct?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: No I am talking about amendment No. 31 which states: "In page 15, to delete lines 39 to 46 and in page 16 to delete lines 1 to 41".

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: Yes, I have the Act here.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: Do the two subsections of the Bill that I propose to amend survive? Is the Minister of State proposing to delete them? Will the two sections that I am trying to amend survive the Minister of State's change? I am referring to amendments Nos. 32 and 33.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I understood that the amendments were being taken together. Are amendments Nos. 30 to 33, inclusive, being taken together?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: My amendments are Nos. 32 and 33. Is the Minister of State trying to remove the section that I am trying to amend? I will in any event make the points that I want to make on these amendments, which have been made in the earlier discussion.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: That was what I thought because if amendment No. 31 is agreed, it would render my amendments void. In respect of amendment No. 32 we believe that we should have an exception in respect of a resolution where the manager approves an amendment. Why should there be a two thirds majority? We want to make an exception for that type of circumstance. The question remains whether it is necessary...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: Does the Minister intend the powers in section 18 to be retrospective to plans that have already been adopted, when the section becomes law? The powers should be retrospective only if there is a significant issue to be addressed. What are the Minister's intentions for these powers? I am not sure whether my colleagues have touched on this issue and apologise if they have. I am interested...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I am grateful to the Minister for that.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: Section 35 of the principal Act lists a series of persons who can be refused planning permission. This amending section contains a provision that states, "the planning authority is satisfied that a person to whom this section applies is not in compliance with a previous permission or with a condition to which the previous permission is subject, has carried out a substantial unauthorised...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I agree with Senators Coffey and Burke on their proposal to delete the word "substantial" from the Bill. The Minister of State should, as urged by Senator Coffey, revisit the issue for precisely the reasons outlined. One person's view of what constitutes a substantial unauthorised development is not necessarily held by another. There is no doubt but that this will lead to litigation. A...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: This is a planning measure. We have debated bankrupt developers and builders and are conscious of that problem. We debated the NAMA legislation at considerable length and are aware there are implications in respect of unfinished developments. I understand why the Minister of State refers to the issue of bankrupt builders and developers as being relevant in this instance, but we should not...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: I know that two additional grounds are included in the Bill but neither of them covers the issue of unfinished estates. I will accept the Minister of State's word that the previous two are already included in the planning code. They are already grounds for refusing permission, that is, if somebody is not in compliance with a previous permission or with a condition to which the previous...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: We have got diverted into a discussion about bonds, which I agree is relevant but which is not the point with which we are dealing here. We are dealing with a list of circumstances whereby a person can be refused planning permission, which the Minister is updating in the legislation. The Minister put into that list two circumstances that are already in the planning code, failure to comply...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Nov 2009)

Alex White: They are safeguards, and certainly the bond system should be in place. In response to what Senator Butler stated, I personally am aware of a considerable number of examples on the south side of the city where bonds were taken up and were inadequate, not slightly but grossly, to deal with the problem that emerged at the end of the day. The council was fumbling around for a few bob to finish...