John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I am pleased to bring the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 before the Seanad. If there is one clear point to be made about planning, it is that planning is about people, not buildings. Good planning can bring enormous benefits to individuals and communities. It allows them to prosper and develop in the long term. It ensures good quality homes are provided as well as areas where industry can thrive. It ensures that facilities are in place, from shops to schools and public transport.

It is often forgotten that people are also the first victims of bad planning. People are left in poor quality housing without the facilities they need and deserve. They are left travelling long journeys in congested traffic to their work places. They are also left most exposed to the ill-winds of economic recession.

Bad planning can be even more cancerous and can eat into the very fabric of our economy. The bad planning and overzoning we have seen in Ireland in the last decade played a significant part in our current economic recession and fuelled the property bubble. Fields that should have been left to the cattle were rezoned and then sold on for gargantuan profits to developers who borrowed heavily to buy them. We are dealing with that legacy now. Communities, especially in the commuter belt, which saw enormous growth without the necessary infrastructure, are now suffering most from the recession. We are now dealing with that legacy. National and regional planning guidelines were ignored, and in many areas we had uncoordinated development, which in turn caused environmental, transport and infrastructural problems that will cost tens of millions of euro in taxpayers money to resolve. We are dealing with that legacy too.

Planning is an issue that truly affects all of us in many aspects of our daily lives - our modes of travel, the way we power our homes and places of work, the delivery of clean water and the delivery of high quality and environmentally sustainable economic and social infrastructure. For all these reasons, I have taken a hands-on approach to improving the planning system since I took office. I introduced a suite of guidance on sustainable residential development and the integration of schools provision with the planning process. New guidance is in preparation in respect of local area planning and flooding and controlling development along national roads. I introduced new regulations last year to encourage the uptake of cleaner and cheaper energy from renewable sources in the industrial, business and agricultural sectors by providing exemptions facilitating a greater penetration of renewable technologies in these sectors. I have taken a strong stance with certain local authorities by issuing directions requiring them to amend their development plans where these have included excessive or inappropriate zonings. Indeed, the problems highlighted by this latter issue have been a strong motivating factor for me in developing this planning Bill.

I have long believed that if we can achieve greater certainty and innovation, and introduce greater participation at the forward planning stage, the vast majority of the planning issues that we face as a society, such as overzoning, inadequate provision for public transport, community infrastructure and amenity, and fluctuations in house and land prices, can be addressed and corrected. The zoning of land through the development plan or local area plan processes is the basic decision that determines the quality of individual planning decisions on the ground.

The lessons of the very recent past have shown that we are suffering from inappropriate and chronic overzoning. Instead of a virtuous circle of zoning decisions being taken for the common good and translated into improving the quality of people's lives on the ground, in some cases we have witnessed greed taking primacy over need when it came to planning. The evidence is there for all to see and it is a damning indictment of our system.

As I stated in my recent contribution to the Second Stage debate on the NAMA Bill, it is no coincidence that our commuter towns are now suffering the most from the economic downturn. These are the towns where house upon house was built and field upon field rezoned but little or nothing was provided by way of community facilities or amenities. This is not my vision for sustainable communities. Scatterings of estates that are poorly linked by transport, distant from schools and dependent on transport by car must become a feature of our past. Sustainable, high-quality living communities are what this country needs to assure its development and competitiveness in the future.

There can be no doubt that, aside from the reckless banking practices which have been shown to have been so prevalent in our financial system, reckless zoning practices and soft touch regulation in our planning system have contributed in equal measure to the property boom and bust. The planning system has acted as a critical enabler for property speculation whereby the value of land was inflated beyond all reason by little more than putting a colour on a map. It is these zoning decisions, made on the basis of who you knew rather than on any proper planning justification or need, which have in no small part led us to where we are today, where very many of our citizens find themselves in negative equity and our banks cannot function in extending credit to businesses together with the long-term costs to society and future generations. It is for this reason that the Government will introduce an 80% windfall tax on all zoning decisions as part of a package of measures to ensure this will never ever happen again. The planning system could be described as being at best passively negligent or, at worst, actively complicit in the economic travails in which we find ourselves today. I am providing clear leadership on this issue and the strong action to deal with the problems I have mentioned is contained in this Bill.

The purpose of the Planning Act 2000, as stated in its Long Title, is "to provide, in the interest of the common good, for proper planning and sustainable development". Before and since I have come into office I have had representations made to me expressing serious concern about how the system can be abused to prioritise private interests over the common good, often to the detriment of sustainable development. I have the greatest respect for the people in planning departments across the local government system who have managed to deal professionally, fairly and effectively with the large increase in the number and complexity of planning applications over recent years. I do not want their labours contaminated by that small number of people who use the planning system for their own gain.

I intend to strengthen further the wider ethical framework for local government. The Green Paper on local government examined the operation of the regime at local level and concluded that greater coherence could be brought to its operation. The White Paper which I intend to publish shortly will present a set of measures in that regard. I am also preparing a Bill to provide for a directly elected Mayor of Dublin in 2010. I intend to use this Bill to introduce statutory protection for whistleblowers in the local government system, building on the approach introduced in many other areas of the public service.

The Bill ranges over a number of areas in the planning code. There are three Parts which contains 36 sections. I would now like to refer in some detail to the main provisions.

As I said, a sound development plan is the key to ensuring good planning at local level. Decisions taken at the development plan stage affect all other planning decisions. A key element of the zoning reform is the introduction in section 5 of the Bill of a requirement for an evidence based core strategy in development plans which will provide relevant information on how the plan and housing strategy are consistent with regional planning guidelines and the national spatial strategy. The location, quantum and phasing of proposed development must be shown, as well as growth scenarios, details of transport plans and retail development and proposals for development in rural areas. This more strategic approach to zoning will allow development to take place at the right time and in the right place and will allow the State to plan for the provision of infrastructure with much greater certainty. This is key to the economic renewal agenda.

Requiring tighter management of land zoning and ensuring the location and quantum of land zoned for development are in line with regional and local targets for growth over the period of the plan will help local authorities to prioritise the provision of their own infrastructure and services for those places most likely to be developed during the plan. We will have an evidence based rationale for future development: what needs to be done, where it should be done and why it should be done.

Where the amount of zoned land in an area far exceeds the likely demand, as quantified in the core strategy of the development plan, I encourage local authorities to consider using the existing down-zoning provisions in the 2000 Act. Alternatively, the development plan needs to make it clear that zoned land will be serviced and prioritised in local area plans, following a sequential approach, that is, developing within and out from existing urban areas using public transport corridors as far as possible. Development on "excess" zoned land will be regarded as premature until the need to develop such land is established in the core strategy of a future plan.

This section also provides that development plans will contain mandatory objectives for the promotion of sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas, including appropriate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This mandatory objective recognises the crucial role local government plays in tackling climate change and builds on other initiatives I have taken in this area.

Section 6 provides for the scope of submissions and observations on development plans to be much more strategic in nature. The development plan-making process will be more transparent and move away from being distracted by proposals for zoning particular land parcels to a more strategic land use planning approach. As a general approach, I am strengthening the status of regional planning guidelines and the role of regional authorities in the preparation or variation of such plans. Development plans will have to be consistent with the relevant regional planning guidelines and regional authorities will be required to make submissions to planning authorities on the key issues which the regional authority believes should be considered in the preparation of a draft development plan. The ongoing review and update of the regional planning guidelines to be finalised in the middle of next year will be crucial to giving effect to this new legislative requirement.

Sections 7 and 8 dealing respectively with the making and varying of a development plan include a requirement that the manager's report should address separately the issues raised by the Minister or the regional authority and that the report must include appropriate recommendations in relation to how these issues are to be addressed. This recognises the Minister's responsibility in law for the planning system and, in relation to the regional authority, its role in ensuring regional planning issues are given due consideration in the shaping of the development plan.

I have listened closely to criticism regarding the introduction of new land zonings late in the development plan process without consultation. The existence of such a device in law is not appropriate and does not accord with the principles of fairness or transparency. I am changing the Act in order that the introduction of zonings late in the process without consultation will no longer be permitted. All land zonings will now have to be the subject of public consultation at plan-making stage or in a draft variation of a development plan. This is crucial from the point of view of ensuring public confidence in the zoning process.

Material amendments to draft development plans and variations to development plans will require the support of two thirds of the total number of members as opposed to a simple majority, as is currently provided for. Decisions on development plans, one of the most fundamental powers available to elected members, must involve the majority of the members. Similar provisions are also introduced under section 11 in relation to the local area planning process.

Section 10 provides that the mandatory population threshold for preparing local area plans is raised from 2,000 to 5,000 persons. The preparation of local area plans is resource intensive, involving consultation with both the elected members and the general public. Such resources are best used where an area is likely to undergo significant development on a greenfield site or redevelopment on a brownfield site. However, it also provides that the discretionary threshold for the preparation of a local area plan will be where the population is between 2,000 and 5,000 and where the relevant area is to be subject to large-scale development within the lifetime of the plan.

To ensure local area plans are comprehensively linked with the city or county development plan which are reviewed every six years, the lifespan of local area plans is increased to ten years, although where a local area plan is no longer consistent with the city or county development plan because the development plan was reviewed or varied, there is a requirement to vary or review the local area plan within one year. There is also provision made for the phasing of development within a local area plan, as provided for within a development plan, particularly given that zoning objectives are provided for in a local area plan on foot of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002.

Section 12 provides explicitly for the link between regional planning guidelines and the national spatial strategy. Under the Bill, regional planning guidelines shall be set within the policy framework of the national spatial strategy, including its population targets which are updated from time to time.

Sections 13 to 16 strengthen the status of regional planning guidelines in relation to development plans and also strengthen the role of regional authorities in the preparation or variation of such plans. Section 13 provides that a development plan must be consistent with the regional planning guidelines in force for the area to help achieve coherence between the hierarchy of forward plans.

Regional authorities are, through sections 14 to 16, inclusive, given an explicit role in pre-draft and draft development plan preparation. They are also given a role in the variation of a development plan. The key aim is to ensure consistency and coherence between local planning and regional planning guidelines. Sections 14 to 16, inclusive, also set a broader perspective for the areas to be covered in the regional authority's observations report. These can include co-ordinating development objectives across local authority boundaries and for the strategic infrastructure requirements within a region to ensure regional priorities are being delivered.

Section 17 provides that a planning authority must demonstrate, by way of a statement when preparing and making a draft development plan, how it has implemented the policies and objectives of the Minister contained in guidelines issued under section 28 of the principal Act. Equally, as the case may be, planning authorities must detail the reasons such policies and objectives were not implemented. This will bring much greater clarity to how key guidelines prepared at national level in relation to, for example, sustainable expansion of small towns and villages or the development of wind farms in scenic areas are being dealt with at local level.

Section 18 deals with the complex and sometimes controversial area of ministerial directions under section 31 of the Act. I have used the powers available to me as Minister under section 31 of the planning Acts on a number of occasions to address issues of inappropriate and excessive zoning and directed local authorities to make the necessary changes to their development plans to bring them into line with national policy. Planning decisions at local level cannot fly in the face of wider regional and national interests, especially those agreed and endorsed by the Government.

For the sake of consistency, I am extending the ministerial powers to issue a direction to include local area plans, in which many zoning decisions are now made by planning authorities. I am also introducing new consultative arrangements for section 31 directions. Once the Bill is enacted and where the need arises to use these powers, a proposed or draft direction will be issued in the first instance to seek local views before a final direction is issued. These new processes take account of the recommendations of the joint committee in its March 2009 report. Section 18 also provides for a discretionary provision for the Minister to appoint an independent inspector to review the manager's report prepared on foot of the public consultation on the proposed direction.

Section 19 amends the principal Act to align the voting requirements on a motion deciding to grant permission for a proposed development that would materially contravene the development plan with the new voting thresholds for material amendments to draft development plans set out in section 7. I will give further consideration to this matter in advance of Committee Stage.

Section 20 proposes an amendment to section 35 of the Act to allow a planning authority to refuse permission where the applicant has carried out a substantial unauthorised development, including a development with no permission whatsoever, or has been convicted of an offence under the planning Acts, subject to certain conditions. Section 21 amends the principal Act by providing for the extension of cost recovery to pre-application and scoping requests related to environmental impact assessments for strategic infrastructure development cases under the Seventh Schedule of the principal Act, in addition to cost recovery in cases that proceed to full application and determination by An Bord Pleanála.

The amendments in section 22 are designed to remove any legal impediment to e-planning. To avoid doubt, the principal Act is amended to prescribe that a planning authority is authorised to display planning application documentation on its website. A further amendment provides that contact telephone numbers and e-mail addresses provided by or on behalf of the applicant will not need to be published. Recently, I encouraged planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála to make greater use of information technology in processing planning applications and appeals. This can enhance the level of service provided for users of the planning system, whether as applicants or as members of the public, and bring efficiency savings to planning authorities and statutory consultees. My Department is such a consultee in respect of heritage issues and we have developed pilot projects whereby planning applications can be referred to us electronically.

Section 23 amends the principal Act to provide for the extension of permission for a period of up to five years in circumstances where substantial works have not been carried out but where there are commercial, economic or technical considerations beyond the control of the applicant that substantially militate against either the commencement of development or the carrying out of substantial works. I will examine this issue further on Committee Stage.

Section 28 amends the principal Act to empower An Bord Pleanála to reduce the quorum for meetings from three members to two on the recommendation of the chairperson that such a reduction is necessary to ensure the efficient discharge of the business of the board.