Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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1835. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of applications made to An Bord Pleanála under the new fast track process for developments in excess of 100 homes since its inception in July 2017; the number of applications at each stage of the process; the number of these applications that have been refused; the reasons for which they were refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2104/18]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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1837. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the density of each development approved in applications made to An Bord Pleanála under the new fast-track process for developments in excess of 100 homes since its inception in July 2017; the density of each development rejected under this process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2106/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1835 and 1837 together.

The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 provides for new streamlined arrangements to enable planning applications for strategic housing developments, of 100 housing units or more or student accommodation developments of 200 bed spaces or more, to be made directly to An Bord Pleanála (the Board) for determination.

As part of the new arrangements and prior to making a planning application, a prospective applicant must make a request to the Board to enter into mandatory pre-application consultation regarding a proposed strategic housing development. At the end of the consultation, which also involves the local planning authority concerned, the Board issues its opinion as to whether the documents submitted with the consultation request constitute a reasonable basis for a planning application to be submitted or alternatively require further consideration and amendment in order to constitute a reasonable basis for an application.

Further to the submission of a planning application to the Board for a proposed strategic housing development, the Board is required to make a determination on such application within a period of 16 weeks of the lodgment of the application.

In the six months since the new arrangements came into operation, i.e. from 3 July 2017 up until 31 December 2017, the Board received 36 valid pre-application consultation requests in respect of which 25 opinions have already issued, with further opinions to issue in 2018.

Up until 11 January, 14 planning applications for strategic housing developments have been made to the Board. The Board issued a decision on the first strategic housing development application on 11 January 2018, granting, in part and subject to conditions, an application for student accommodation at University College Dublin. The Board made a decision earlier this week to refuse a second application for residential development at Clay Farm, Ballyogan Road, Dublin 18. A notice of these decisions, along with information on other applications received and to be determined in 2018 which includes weblinks to access full details of each application, is available on An Bord Pleanála’s website at the following link: . Decisions by the Board on the other 12 strategic housing development applications currently before the Board are expected to be made between now and end-April 2018.

Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (the Act), I am specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any case with which a planning authority or the Board is or may be involved. Therefore, I cannot comment on an individual planning case or any aspect thereof.

However, a detailed and national level policy approach in relation to residential densities in urban areas is set out in my Department’s 2009 Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas,issued under section 28 of the Act. The objective of these Guidelines is to ensure planning authorities bring about high quality and sustainable urban 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.

Planning authorities, and, where applicable, the Board, must have regard to guidelines issued under section 28 in the performance of their functions generally under the Planning Acts.