Results 1,921-1,940 of 6,937 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I appreciate that but there could be a change of Government when this is done. There could be Ministers who do not put importance on these issues. Having it in the legislation would ensure that no matter whether there is a change of Government or not these issues around biodiversity loss, status of protected sites, air quality, water quality, well-being and human health and so forth would...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I support the amendment. Having a definition of "community garden" in legislation is important. It will be helpful if that is done. Earlier today and yesterday, when dealing with the planning process and the national planning framework, we had a good discussion on the importance of well-being and health. Among their numerous benefits, community gardens contribute to well-being and human...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Prior to area plans, there are five years for urban plans or is that for the co-ordinated area plans? Before the amendment, it was just one year rather than five years. With the amendment, it will be five years. Was there a rationale for having those as only for one year initially. Why is this? Clearly that was a deliberate difference in the initial draft of the Bill. Why is this being...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I appreciate that it takes time and resources to do co-ordinated area plans, priority area plans and urban plans. There is no question about that. The difficulty I have is with the change. The Bill states the principal planning authority shall "commence" the process, not that it should complete or finish the process or anything like that. It "shall commence" the preparation. It shall...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The amendment is worded to have flexibility because that is a key point we are making with the amendment. There are areas that are complex and technical and require longer, such as where a notice is being issued or there is public consultation. More complex and technical areas often require getting expertise, whereas in the case of a more straightforward notice without complexities and...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: On public consultation, public notices and public display periods, there is often a huge gap between the view of those who run consultations regarding how inclusive those consultations are and the view of the public. People running consultations will often feel they are doing a great job in making information available but the general public will have a very different experience. The public...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: They do. I have heard it recently – obviously, it is an exaggeration – with regard to their experience of public consultation and displays.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: No. I will not give it. We are not on section 42 of the Bill; we are on section 16. My issue with the wording of section 16 is that it is the Office of the Planning Regulator, the regional assembly and the planning authority that decide what is considered reasonable. It is not decided in legislation. Through our amendment, we are trying to put some shape on this. Where there is good...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I am always as brief as possible.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Where I get feedback about the timeframes being insufficient is on the complex and technical information. I have received that feedback quite a bit. Where a period for a regular amount of consultation or notice might suffice, when you are dealing with something much more complex, people really struggled. We have to bear in mind that there are a few weeks for people to even become aware of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I support amendment No. 422. I make a similar point, that the change in this Bill is a serious weakening. As Deputy Matthews said, these are established rights of way. It is not about creating new ones or anything like that. The current obligation under the legislation is for these to be marked out in the development plan maps. It is a "shall". We have gone from that to "may". What we...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 126: In page 59, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following: “(2) In considering what constitutes a “reasonable” period, the requirement shall be to provide for a period consistent with affording the public an opportunity to effectively participate, bearing in mind the volume and technical complexity of the materials involved, and that...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The amendment is to change the structure of how this is worded, which is: (a) securing national and regional development strategies, including maximising the potential of the regions; (b) supporting proper planning and sustainable development in urban and rural areas; We propose a wording whereby proper planning and sustainable development runs through (a) and (b): (a) Securing...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I strongly support maximising the potential of the regions once it is closely aligned with proper planning and sustainable development. I am concerned with the current wording, in subparagraph (a), where "including maximising the potential of the regions" is there without being linked, in subparagraph (a), with "proper planning and sustainable development". We have sustainable development...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: My concern is also the way it is drafted. Section 19(2) begins: “The National Planning Framework shall contain a statement setting out the Government’s broad national plan in relation to the strategic planning and sustainable development of the State .. securing national and regional development strategies, including maximising the potential of the regions”. That could...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I want to come in on amendment No. 662.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The way the amendment is worded is it is not an exhaustive or exclusive list, in that it provides that "such prescribed documents shall include at least information on the following" but there can of course be lots of more information sought and lots more prescribed documents. It is just to make sure these things are not missed and the amendment is worded that way. We had a very good...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: Amendment No. 553 means that rather than co-ordinated area plans happening within one year of a development plan being passed, there will be a five-year window. That is a significant change in timeframes. I appreciate that there are resource and capacity issues involved but five years, potentially, for a co-ordinated area plan is a long period after a development plan is passed. It is half...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will not because it is too long.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (29 Feb 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: I want to say-----