New planning bill 'a waste of time' without resources, say planners

Gavin Lawlor of the Irish Planning Institute said that there is a Europe-wide shortage of qualified town planners.

The new Planning and Development Bill 2022 will be “a complete waste of time” unless planning bodies are properly resourced and current understaffing tackled, experts say.

Speaking about the draft legislation which aims to overhaul and streamline planning law in Ireland, Philip Jones of the Irish Planning Institute told the Oireachtas housing committee that understaffing was “the elephant in the room” and if resources are not provided then the new legislation would be a complete waste of time.

When An Bord Pleanála chair Oonagh Buckley requested 59 staff recently she was given just 39, he said.

“Why are we still back with the control on numbers in the public sector that was brought in because of the crash? If the local authority has the financial means to pay for the staff, why do they have to go cap in hand to get staff? Why can't they just employ them?” 

'It has to be properly resourced'

Gavin Lawlor of the Irish Planning Institute said that there is a Europe-wide shortage of qualified town planners. Local authorities have started recruiting graduates directly from colleges (rather than demanding they have two years professional experience prior to hiring as before) due to personnel shortages.

“Of course, if the planning system is to work effectively and efficiently in the interests of all of our citizens, it has to be properly resourced, which it manifestly is not at present,” he said.

“The Bill includes many additional responsibilities and actions, which will increase the workload in both the public and private sectors, and these will clearly require more resources."

The bill in its current form would limit those who can apply for a judicial review and would exclude residents' associations from directly bringing these High Court challenges (though they could be taken in the name of an individual directly impacted).

This reduction in actors who can appeal through the courts is problematic for the Irish Planning Institute, Mr Lawlor said.

But there are also concerns about the large number of judicial reviews being taken, he said. 

However, Mr Jones said that he could not see any evidential rationale for what the Government was proposing regarding limiting access to judicial reviews in this legislation, with some legal experts suggesting that it could actually lead to more litigation and not less.