Results 2,541-2,560 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: Okay. On page 155, I will withdraw amendments Nos. 534, 538, 542 and 546 because I think there is a difficulty with the word "consistent" in the context of the national biodiversity action plan. It did strike me that in a number of places we use the terminology "have regard to", and that has been well discussed. In a number of other places we say "shall take account of", and in other...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: For consistency then - which is that third one I said - we should either be using "have regard to" or "take account of". I do not know which one would stand up the most in a court case, if I took account of something or had regard to it. Which one means I applied, studied or adhered to the strongest?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am sorry, I went off on a wrong tangent there talking about "consistent". It is on another bunch of amendments. On amendments Nos. 534, 538, 542 and 546, I am withdrawing them because what I have asked is for a transport strategy of the National Transport Authority to be aligned with TOD and the hierarchy of road users model. The National Transport Authority produces its own strategy...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I have amendment No. 615 but I have kind of addressed that because the Minister of State is going to come back on the hierarchy of road users model. Amendment No. 616 is about car parking and storage. What I am trying to achieve here is to address this kind of old, car-dependant language that is a hangover and legacy of our planning past, where we talk about "car parks". That is valuable...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: For cars.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: They are but what I want to try and do is focus the minds of people who would refer to this Bill when they are designing their developments so they will say that it is for parking and storage. It is not just a case of them needing this amount of space for the minimum amount of cars per household that development plans set out, and saying it is a facility for the owner and the people who live...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: Okay. Amendment No. 618 is in this grouping as well. Again, it is around the hierarchy of road users model. What I am looking for with this amendment is to optimise access to public transport or active travel networks. You will often see where a development or housing estate takes place, the developer decides where the walking routes will be and where people are going to walk. In fact, I...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: These are conditions that would be attached to the commission. I would like to give the local authority the following ability. Someone can submit a design, layout and a permeability and mobility plan or whatever might go with the development but the local development should be able to say that footpath should go over there and they should knock a hole in that wall so that people have easy...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: They can do so at the moment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I see conditions requiring the provision of roads and I understand "roads" includes footpaths and cycleways. We have quite a long list of planning conditions that can be applied there but it does not jump out at me. You do want to be on the back foot when putting in a submission on a development plan to say you had requested a condition to be applied to optimise access to local transport...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: But is it in the development plan? Where is what should be included in a development plan stated? I think we would all agree with this, and I want to see it written somewhere so that we are not just all agreeing with it. A planner cannot rely on this. An applicant could come back and ask why a certain condition was put in that they do not agree with and then appeal it because it is not...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: We will take it back to the development plan stage rather than the conditions of an application stage. I still think it is better on an individual planning application to be able to apply that condition rather than it just being a generality development plan where there is much scope to say that something should not apply to a certain development plan for a particular reason. Perhaps the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: Is it in the guidance on development plans that was issued quite recently?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: We leave the design to the applicants generally. They are guided by the principles in the development plan and they produce, design and submit it. If it correlates closely with the development plan, they are likely to get their planning permission. That is our planning consent process.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: However, if we want to give planners the ability to apply a condition, I suggest it should be in this section rather than just in the generality of design in a development plan. Can the Minister of State find out if it is in the guidance that was issued recently on development plans?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: If is not, can we see if it can be crafted in here somehow?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am not trying to pick holes in this. I am just trying to make a better plan so that-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: -----over the next 20 years people are not tempted to jump into their car because the bus stop has been put far away because of the layout of the development that was granted. I am getting towards the end now. Amendment No. 793 refers to large-scale residential development. It is on page 306 of the Bill. It is along the same lines. It is about setting out matters related to the holding...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am thinking of a particular LRD application and I do not see that included in it.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (14 Feb 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am.