Bord Pleanála composition may be unlawful, says group

A GROUP representing rural families has called for an urgent review of the composition of An Bord Pleanála, claiming its membership may be unlawful.

The Irish Rural Dwellers’ Association raised concerns after recent appointments further increased the number of state employees on the board.

By law, the board members — who make the final decision in planning appeals — can be drawn from a wide range of sources, including trade unions, the community, voluntary, youth and disability sectors, the arts, farming, business, the construction industry or “professions or occupations that relate to physical planning, engineering and architecture”.

However, all but one of the 11 members now belong to that last category. Three have come from the staff of An Bord Pleanála, including the latest appointment, the board’s own planning officer, while another worked as a planning inspector for the board on outsourced cases.

Two, including the chairman, are former senior civil servants in the Department of the Environment, which has responsibility for the board, while another worked as an engineer in a county council planning department.

The others are two architects, one of whom worked with state body Aer Rianta; an engineering consultant and a former Fianna Fáil TD, who is a solicitor.

Membership is by ministerial appointment and the Department of the Environment said: “The minister is satisfied that the current nomination and appointment processes are fair and transparent.”

An Bord Pleanála chairman John O’Connor also said he was “entirely satisfied” that the board was properly constituted and representative of the sectors specified in the law.

But association spokesman Jim Connolly, who is leading the group’s campaign for an easing of restrictions on rural housing, said he believed the spirit of the law was not being followed.

“The membership was meant to mirror Irish society, but if reflects a very small part of it. Rural Ireland has no voice on the board. That is not what the law intended.”

He said the association intended to raise funds to take judicial review proceedings.

Fine Gael deputy environment spokesman James Bannon echoed the association’s concerns. “There is a feeling in rural Ireland that, when they are dealing with An Bord Pleanála, they are dealing with people who live in apartments in Dublin city centre and have no feeling for rural life.”