Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce Second Stage of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021 to the Seanad. I thank the Cathaoirleach and the Members for facilitating early debate on this very important Bill.

As the House will be aware, the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future committed to not extending the strategic housing development, SHD, planning arrangements, which were introduced under the previous Government's Rebuilding Ireland action plan, beyond their legislative expiry date of 25 February 2022. Furthermore, action 12.3 of the Government's more recent Housing for All action plan, on which we had statements in the Seanad, commits to the introduction of a new planning process for large-scale residential developments, LRDs, to replace the SHD arrangements. I am happy that this Bill delivers on both of these commitments in the programme for Government and Housing for All.

In essence, the provisions contained in the Bill will restore the two-stage planning process for large-scale housing developments, with decision making for such development proposals rightly returning to the local planning authority in the first instance, and with the possibility of subsequent appeal to An Bord Pleanála. In addition to the benefits of returning the primary decision-making function for LRDs to the local level, the reintroduction of an appeal mechanism to the board should assist in reducing the number of judicial review challenges against LRD planning application decisions, contrary to the SHD arrangements, where the only appeal mechanism in that process was a judicial review in the High Court.

Moving to the contents and structure of the Bill, it contains 17 sections, to which I will now turn in more detail. The primary provisions are contained in a limited number of sections, namely, sections 3, 7, and 16, with the supporting provisions for these arrangements contained in the other sections. Rather than go through each section individually, if it is okay with the House, I will instead outline the key elements of the provisions in the Bill.

The proposed new arrangements will retain some of the positive elements of the SHD arrangements, for example, mandatory pre-application consultation of proposed developments between the developer and the planning authority, which can help to tease out issues prior to the submission of the planning application itself, as well as mandatory decision timelines, thereby providing greater certainty for developers in terms of planning timelines. I believe this is very important as we ramp up our housing delivery and planning for the 33,000 homes we need per annum over the course of Housing for All.

The new arrangements will comprise three stages: a pre-application consultation stage, a planning application stage and, if required, an appeal stage. Turning first to the pre-application consultation stage, which is primarily detailed in section 3 of the Bill, this will involve two steps. The first is an initial, more informal pre-application consultation on the proposals between the developer and the planning authority, as already mandated under section 247 of the Planning Act for projects of this scale. This will then be followed by a formal request for a large residential development meeting by the developer, requiring the submission of fairly detailed initial documentation in regard to the proposed development.

Planning authorities will be required to hold such LRD meetings within four weeks of receipt of the meeting request and then issue an LRD opinion within four weeks of that LRD meeting. These are strict timeframes that are provided for in the Bill and will take effect in law once the Bill passes. In effect, the formal pre-application consultation stage will take a maximum of eight weeks in total. The LRD opinion issued by the planning authority will set out whether the documentation submitted by the developer constitutes a reasonable basis for moving to the next stage of the process and submitting a planning application That will identify any issues that need to be addressed when subsequently submitting a planning application.Drawing from the SHD arrangements, the new pre-application consultation requirement is intended to improve the quality of planning applications received and subsequently submitted in respect of large-scale housing developments and reduce the need for further information requests in respect of subsequently submitted planning applications.

Moving to the second stage of the LRD process, the planning application stage, the new LRD arrangements will rely on the existing section 34 planning application process and will require planning authorities to determine LRD planning applications within eight weeks of receipt of the application, with, as indicated, limited scope for "further information" requests, the details of which will be set out in supplementary regulations once the Bill is passed. We are all aware that further information requests have in the past resulted in considerable delays in determining planning applications. However, the new arrangements are intended to front-load the consideration of a range of issues at the pre-application consultation stage, thereby reducing the need for further information at planning application stage and streamlining the decision-making process.

With regard to the third stage, the appeal stage, which is provided for in section 7, the board will be required to determine LRD appeals within a mandatory 16 weeks of receipt of the appeal, again with very limited scope for further information requests.

The mandatory timelines for the three stages of the LRD planning process, which have the potential to be almost as time-efficient as the SHD arrangements they are replacing, will most importantly bring back decision-making to local authorities, whom I believe will have a better understanding of the applications, thereby providing greater clarity and certainty regarding timelines.

To help ensure adherence to the mandatory timelines, a penalty, payable to the developer, will apply to both the planning authority - 3.5 times the application fee paid or €10,000, whichever is the lesser - and the board, also to a value of €10,000 - for late decisions on LRD planning applications or LRD appeals.

I should also mention one important difference from the outgoing SHD arrangements, which is that the new LRD arrangements will allow up to 30% of the gross floor space of the proposed development to be for commercial or other use instead of the 15% cap that currently exists. The change acknowledges that such developments, particularly in inner-city brownfield sites, which I have had experience of myself, tend to require a greater mix of residential, commercial and other use to take account of the differing needs of inner-city areas, as well as to make LRDs in such inner urban areas more economically viable for developers and to provide for a better design and mix.

In line with the principle of compact growth, more residential development is required in inner urban areas, and this change in the scope of the arrangements is intended to facilitate greater development of brownfield sites in inner urban areas than might otherwise be the case. The Government will also support that with the Croí Cónaithe (cities) fund, the viability fund to develop brownfield sites in cities.

The Bill also proposes a number of transitional arrangements relating to the expiry of the SHD arrangements and their replacement by the new LRD arrangements. There are two scenarios addressed under the transitional arrangements. First, developers with projects already in the SHD system and who, on the commencement of the Act, have received an opinion on their proposals from the board, will have 16 weeks from that commencement date to submit an SHD application to the board. Second, developers who have commenced the SHD process by requesting pre-application consultations with the board and are awaiting an opinion on their proposals on the commencement of the Act will have 16 weeks to submit an application to the board from the date of receipt of the pre-application consultation opinion from the board. In both of these scenarios the board may then take a further 16 weeks to make a determination on the application.

These are fairly standard transitional arrangements which generally apply when changing from one system or process to another. This is a significant change. However, it is important to note that for large-scale housing development proposals which have not commenced the SHD process on the date of commencement of the Act, which it is intended will be 17 December, any such future development proposals for large-scale housing developments will be required to go through the new process. Consequently, it is intended that the 17 December date will effectively mark the transition date from the SHD arrangements to the new large-scale residential development arrangements.

I think Members will agree this Bill contains a number of fundamental and important legislative changes. It restores the two-stage planning process for large-scale residential developments with primary decision-making being returned to local planning authorities in the first instance - rightly so - thereby enhancing local democracy and providing enhanced public participation in the local decision-making process, with members of the public having two opportunities to input to the process - at the planning stage and at the appeal stage. We are retaining some of the positive elements of the SHD arrangements, such as mandatory pre-application consultation and strict decision-making timelines, all of which are aimed at facilitating speedier decision-making in the planning system for much-needed housing supply.

The final point I want to mention is that these proposed new LRD arrangements will have some resourcing implications for local authorities, especially but not exclusively those in the larger urban areas. Both my Department and I are willing to engage further with the local government sector in this regard with a view to ensuring the objectives of the new arrangements can be effectively achieved. I genuinely look forward to listening to the contributions from Senators this evening. Accordingly, I commend the Bill to the House.