Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 54, to delete lines 10 and 11.

Amendment No. 40 seeks to delete a particular circumstance where An Bord Pleanála could approve works that materially contravene development or local area plans where the works are of "strategic, regional or national importance". We have observed significant restrictions on the authority and power of local government in recent decades and we fear this provision will exacerbate this as it relates to permissions for large schemes and road development. Irrespective of concerns about the legitimacy of the decision-making within An Bord Pleanála, it is very important that local authorities and councillors reserve the right to make decisions about what is included in their development and local area plans and that applications for works in a relevant area take their provisions into account.

Development and local area plans play a very important role in terms of democratic participation in the planning process and in decision-making about how we want to live together. They provide a vision for our villages, towns and cities and inform where development ought to take place.The plans' provisions are not decided on a whim. They involve detailed consultation with the relevant electorate and deliberation between elected representatives. We are told that when decisions are made in our local area, the priorities, principles and rules of the area and the development plans matter. They are meant to inform, in large part, the planning decisions that can be made. It is our view that to contravene them undermines the democratic planning process. We ask that the Minister consider this deletion in order to uphold the planning process and democratic participation within it.

Similarly, amendment No. 41 seeks to narrow the circumstances in which An Bord Pleanála may materially contravene a local area or development plan. As drafted, the section provides that the board may do so if a proposed scheme or road should be approved having regard to "any relevant policy" of "any Minister of the Government". It is our assertion that this is not in the public interest and is open to abuse by future Governments. The amendment seeks to replace the term "any Minister of the Government" with an explicit reference to the Minister for Transport and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. While we are of the view that policy decisions of a particular Government should, in and of themselves, not be put forward as a rationale for the contravention of democratically informed local area or development plans, we have proposed a modest amendment that would take account of the policies of relevant Departments, given their specific, relevant remit and their expertise in matters related to transport and transport-related development.

Like amendments Nos. 40 and 41, amendment No. 42 seeks to limit the circumstances wherein An Bord Pleanála could contravene local area or development plans. The subsection, as drafted, provides that the board may contravene these plans having regard to the "pattern of development" in an area in the time since the plan was developed. As drafted, we fear the subsection is open to abuse and could see the wide-scale contravention of local area and development plans. Such plans are integral to the democratic planning process. They are updated on a regular basis to take account of changes within local areas and within the understanding and perspectives of an electorate and elected representatives. An Bord Pleanála should not have carte blancheto precipitate these changes, as we fear would be the case should this amendment or a suitable alternative not be incorporated into the Bill.