Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I was involved in the work that went into the Adamstown planning scheme, which is probably the best planning example we have at this stage. The Minister might think I am exaggerating, but I urge him to ensure the Government designates more strategic development zones.

The Adamstown plan took time to complete but it was worth it. However, the work involved did not take an excessive amount of time and relations were less fraught than if every planning application was objected to along the way. The plan was prepared as a whole unit. Any future planning permissions in the area must fit in with the Adamstown planning scheme.

The scheme was council and community-driven rather than developer-driven, although the developers were very much brought on board. It has mandatory requirements in terms of infrastructure and provides for the phasing in of infrastructure. It builds a community as a whole. An overview of all requirements was taken before the plan was drawn up as opposed to what would have happened otherwise. All the houses would have been built in any event in Adamstown but the development would have taken place in an ad hoc, piecemeal way without the safeguards that are in place in regard to infrastructure.

I urge the Minister to designate other areas as strategic development zones because the exercise in which I was involved was worthwhile. The Minister will not find a better example of planning in Ireland. While such a model is slightly removed from the point of what we are discussing, it could be related to the national spatial strategy.