Call to hire more professional planners

The Irish Planning Institute has called on the Government to hire more professional planners to avoid planning delays and to ensure the State can capitalise on the fragile economic recovery.

Institute president Mary Hughes made the call yesterday following the publication of a national survey of the planning profession — the first since the height of the boom — which shows nearly one third of all professional planning posts were lost during the economic crash.

“We know that Ireland is now the fastest-growing economy in Europe and this growth is evident in the increase in planning applications nationally,” she said.

“While this is obviously very good news, we need to ensure that planning is effectively resourced so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. There are more non-planners than there are professional planners in our planning departments today, with our survey showing that the number of planners in local authorities has decreased by 32%.

“This is completely disproportionate to reductions in other staff roles when compared with the 23% reduction in overall local authority staff numbers since 2008.”

She outlined the survey’s key findings at the opening day of the planning institute’s annual conference in Cork, which heard:

• The number of planners employed by local authorities has been cut from 607 in 2006 to 415 today;
• Non-planners outnumber planners in local authority planning departments, with 415 planners of a total planning staff complement of 904;
• There has been a 37% decline in the number of planners in private sector consultancies;
• However, of the 60 planning consultancies surveyed, more than half said business has improved in the last six months.

Ms Hughes warned that action is needed now to address staffing deficiencies, given that planners will soon see additional statutory duties arising from new planning legislation to support the Government’s Construction 2020 strategy, including administering the new vacant site levy which will see local authorities getting powers to impose a 3% levy on the value of strategic development sites which are lying idle in a bid to kickstart development.

Paudie Coffey, the minister of state with responsibility for housing and planning, said the Government was moving beyond economic crisis management into a careful rebuilding of capacity, and that there had been an increase in staffing levels in local authorities in recent months.

“There were over 100 appointments in last few months, and there will be more,” he said.

Ms Hughes also said the planners will become more vocal on planning issues, the delivery of strategic infrastructure, and on climate change issues.

Conference attendees enjoyed tours of Cork City and harbour yesterday. The conference continues today in the Clarion Hotel.

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