Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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825.To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government for an update on revised planning guidelines, to specifically outline the number of parking spaces per household in city settings and also in town and village settings.[34803/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department issued the ‘Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities’ on 15 January 2024. These Guidelines set national planning policy and guidance in relation to the development of urban and rural settlements, with a focus on sustainable residential development and the creation of compact settlements.

In relation to car parking, the Guidelines note that in order to meet targets for reduced private car travel it will be necessary to apply a graduated approach to the management of car parking within new residential development. The Guidelines state that the approach to car parking should take account of proximity to an urban centre and sustainable transport options, in order to promote more sustainable travel choices. In summary, the Guidelines state that car parking should be reduced at all urban locations, and should be minimised, substantially reduced or wholly eliminated at locations that have good access to urban services and to public transport.

Specific Planning Policy Requirement (SPPR) 3 included within the Guidelines sets out national standards in relation to car parking that can be summarised as follows:• In city centres and urban neighbourhoods, the maximum rate of car parking for residential development is 1 no. space per dwelling. • In accessible locations that are served by a high frequency urban bus service (10 min peak hour frequency), the maximum rate of car parking provision for residential development is 1.5 no. spaces per dwelling. • In more intermediate and peripheral locations, the maximum rate of car parking provision for residential development is 2 no. spaces per dwelling.

In all cases, applicants are required to provide a rationale and justification for the number of car parking spaces proposed and to satisfy the planning authority that the parking levels are necessary and appropriate, particularly when they are close to the maximum provision.

The Guidelines were issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). Section 28 provides that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála shall have regard to the Guidelines and apply the specific planning policy requirements (SPPRs) of the Guidelines, in the performance of their functions. In this regard, the provisions of the Guidelines in relation to car parking apply to all planning decisions made after the Guidelines came into force.