Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of elements of the Bill I want to talk about. If we can achieve it, the objective of greater clarity, certainty and consistency will go a long way towards making our country and all of the developments that take place within it more sustainable into the future. We will all agree that the restructuring of An Bord Pleanála into a new organisation, an coimisiún pleanála, and increased resourcing for that new body is to be welcomed and supported. It is an issue we teased out at some length in the Oireachtas joint committee.

Most important in that restructuring and in the provision of additional resources to the commission is that the role of the local authorities is protected. This Government made a very significant intervention in respect of planning when it did away with the strategic housing development legislation and introduced legislation on large-scale residential developments. That large-scale residential planning framework has served us well. The local authorities have embraced and supported it and it has resulted in greater clarity, greater public participation in the planning applications brought forward, greater engagement with them and greater support for them. That is because the local authorities are closest to the communities. Communities identify with them. The public can also see planning applications progressing in a more transparent way. That is all to be welcomed.

The new area plans and the provision to have each of the 31 local authorities draw up ten-year development plans will give local authorities a great opportunity to put a lot more emphasis on the implementation of those development plans rather than just the process of making development plans. I served as a local authority member on Dublin City Council from 2004. Making a development plan is an enormous undertaking for the elected representatives and for the executive functions that support them. Unfortunately, they do not get to spend enough time implementing those plans. The ten-year plans with an option to review will give local authority members much greater scope to focus on implementation.

I welcome the urban development zones. These will provide a great opportunity for urban communities to define how they want to see their areas develop and to ensure that those developments in our urban centres take place in a sustainable way. The judicial changes being made to deal with spurious objections are important. The legislation needs to get the balance right between dealing with spurious objections and protecting public participation, thereby ensuring that the public feel like they are part of the process and have a say, their rights under the Aarhus Convention are preserved and their access to fairness and planning justice is not restricted. The provision on controlling costs will go a long way towards enabling and supporting public participation. I am thinking of residents' associations and other community organisations that give of their time outside their daily lives to engage with statutory authorities and those who seek to develop in their areas. Getting the balance right in the legislation will be critical to its success and to ensuring that the consistency, clarity and certainty we all want to see in our planning system is delivered.