Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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211. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to issue more directive or prescriptive guidelines to local authorities on density levels and height restrictions for new residential construction as part of his forthcoming national planning framework; his views on whether the existing density levels and height restrictions are appropriate in all areas of high housing demand or if there is scope for revision in some cases; and if the new office of planning regulator currently being considered by the Houses of the Oireachtas will have powers to direct local authorities to alter density levels and height restrictions in local area plans. [4712/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A detailed and national level policy approach in relation to residential densities in urban areas has already been set out in my Department’s Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas, published in May 2009 under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. The objective of these Guidelines is to ensure local authorities bring about high quality and sustainable urban development using their development planning and management functions to deliver:

- quality homes and neighbourhoods;

- places where people want to live, work and raise families; and

- places that work in relation to the provision of infrastructure.

The Guidelines set out a broad and accepted policy context for achieving sustainable development by balancing the need to ensure the highest standards of residential design which encompasses building lay-out, design and heights and the need to ensure efficient use of scarce land and infrastructural resources and the avoidance of urban sprawl.

In particular, the Guidelines out line a range of densities appropriate to different location types, from lower densities in the range of 15 to 20 dwellings per hectare at the edges of smaller towns and villages for private site-type developments to densities in the range of 20 to 40 dwellings per hectare in more central or edge-of-centre sites in smaller towns, through to densities in the range of a minimum of 50 dwellings per hectare in larger urban areas along public transport corridors.

The Guidelines also place a heavy emphasis on the importance of public infrastructure, such as public transport, community and sports facilities, as densities increase towards more central urban locations, and of the development plan process in securing effective sustainable urban development outcomes.

However, the Guidelines do not set out specific policy advice in relation to height of buildings alone, in isolation from broader location, design and layout considerations nor would it be appropriate to do so, given variability in urban contexts and the inappropriateness of a “one size fits all” height policy for urban areas that can range from small villages to towns and cities and from suburban to city centre settings. Rather, it is a matter for local authorities to ensure the appropriate application of the Guidelines in their statutory development plan and development management processes.

In addition, the National Planning Framework, for which an initial public consultation process will be launched this week, will further develop the policy in this area, for example in relation to identifying potential to build up the population and economic vitality of city and town centre areas that in many cases have witnessed a sustained movement of people outwards to suburban and wider settings.

In relation to the Office of the Planning Regulator, for which statutory underpinning will be provided later this year, it is intended that the Office will be able to evaluate and carry out assessments relating to planning policy matters and provide observations and recommendations in relation to those matters, to conduct reviews and examinations of local authority systems and procedures and to conduct education and training programmes, and research in relation to planning matters more broadly. It is proposed that the Regulator may make recommendations to the Minister in relation to directing local authorities, as provided for under Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, in respect of the development plan decisions of local authority elected members but the power to issue a direct ion should continue to be held by the Minister who is accountable to the Oireachtas.

I therefore consider existing national level policy on residential density and efficient use of urban land to be clear and that, through the National Planning Framework, a concerted effort must be made to achieve more effective translation and implementation of that policy in local authority areas through the existing planning processes.