Planning inconsistencies ‘wasting resources’

PLANNING inconsistencies are causing extra financial hardship for those waiting to move into new homes, architects claimed yesterday.

Tony Reddy, president of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland, said considerable variations in the way local authorities interpreted the planning legislation were “wasting the resources of ordinary people who have lodged planning applications as well as those of the local authorities themselves”.

Mr Reddy said different criteria were being set for basic requirements such as site notices and advertisements of planning applications in newspapers. Examples included:

One county council invalidated an application because the architect’s site notice did not contain the words “site notice”.

Another council invalidated an application because after inspection of the site notice, they noticed the signature on it had faded and was illegible.

A rural authority invalidated an application because its name was not written across the top of the site notice. The architects had used the site notice issued by the council itself.

One architectural practice lodged an application with one of the four Dublin authorities for five houses with balconies. They were told that they were not required to advertise the balconies, and the application was validated without a problem. However, when the same practice lodged an application for three houses with another Dublin authority, on the same basis they did not advertise the balconies, this time their application was invalidated due to not mentioning them.

Mr Reddy said these inconsistencies were also frustrating building professionals “because a number of planning authorities, or individual staff within those authorities, are acting as independent agencies without any effective management or oversight”.

Mr Reddy said the RIAR was calling on Environment Minister Martin Cullen to publish a National Planning Charter and establish a monitoring forum to oversee the Charter’s implementation in a bid to eliminate anomalies.

The proposal for a National Planning Charter has been developed jointly by the RIAI and the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA).

Mr Reddy said the RIAI and the IRDA would also envisage the Charter highlighting practical examples of good and bad practice in planning.

A Department of the Environment spokesperson said Mr Cullen had met with the RIAI and “shared a lot of their beliefs”. He would not say if this included publication of a charter, but said the Government would shortly outline its proposals.