‘Bill must promote proper planning that is not developer-led’

NAMA must promote proper planning and sustainable development and not just the best return on land development, the Irish Planning Institute has warned.

President of the Irish Planning Institute Gerry Sheeran has written to the Minister for Finance offering to help with details of the NAMA legislation so the future development of land will be protected.

“The NAMA Bill must ensure that proper planning and sustainable development is core to thefuture development of this massive land portfolio in order to protect andenhance the quality of life for future generations,” Mr Sheeran said.

The Institute described the NAMA bill as “one of the most critical in the state’s history”. But it has warned that when landowner and developer profit remain the sole objectives of construction, as has happened in the past, it has “resulted in bad planning and unsustainable zoning and has contributed to the current financial problems of the state”.

The IPI strongly welcomed the proposal by the Government to introduce a windfall tax on 80% of profits resulting from rezoning decisions.

Mr Sheeran, meanwhile, called for the future development of the country to be “plan-led” rather than “developer-led”.

“Good planning can increase the value of land, by achieving a better use mix or by providing infrastructure such as public transport. It can also ensure the provision of social infrastructure like schools, community facilities, parks and social housing in a timely, coherent fashion,” he said.

The Institute reminded the Government yesterday that in 2003, it requested the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution to implement the proposals in the Kenny Report of the 1970s. The report had stated that when land value soars, due to rezoning, profits should go to the state to be used for community and social purposes rather than being absorbed as profit by developers and landowners.

“Land banks should be developed so that people can live, work and haveaccess to recreation which enhances their quality of life with easy access to work, school and shopping, good public transport links and the ability to walk and cycle,” Mr Sheeran said.