Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 43 inserts a new section in the Bill which proposes to amend section 246 of the principal Act, which contains the enabling provision for the Minister to make regulations for the payment to planning authorities of prescribed fees for a range of services provided. In this regard, under section 247 of the principal Act, before making a planning application, a person may request a pre-planning application consultation with the relevant planning authority in order to have initial discussions on a proposed development. Such consultation meetings are offered as a service by planning authorities for the purpose of ensuring that a proposed development is in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and for providing advice regarding a proposed planning application. In certain circumstances, such consultations are mandatory.Under the new fast-track planning arrangements for strategic housing developments, developers must consult the relevant planning authority regarding such proposed developments before they commence engagement with An Bord Pleanála. Section 24 of this Bill proposes to require mandatory pre-planning application consultations with planning authorities in respect of housing schemes of ten or more units and commercial developments with a gross floor area of 1,000 sq. m or more. Currently, there is no legislative basis for planning authorities to charge a fee for the purposes of such informal pre-application consultation meetings. It is a free service, in essence, at the moment.

Given that such consultations may involve input from local authority planning, roads, water and housing services, depending on the scale of the proposed development, it is proposed to provide that planning authorities may charge a fee for consultations held in this regard, with the rate of the fee being proportionate to the type of proposed development. I refer, for example, to strategic housing developments, smaller scale housing, commercial developments or other forms of development. In the first instance, this requires an amendment to section 246 of the principal Act to be amended to provide that the Minister may prescribe fees to be paid to planning authorities for consultations held under section 247. I am providing for this in amendment No. 43. A subsequent supporting amendment to the 2001 planning and development regulations, in which other planning related fees are prescribed, will be required to provide for the fees which should apply.