Environmental groups to sound alarm bells over proposed planning laws 

The Irish Environmental Network is set to raise its concerns about the draft Planning and Development Bill at Tuesday's meeting of the Oireachtas housing committee. File picture: PA

The Government’s proposed new planning laws would create a “veritable cat’s cradle of obstacles” for the public to hold authorities to account and uncertainties will “spread like a virus through the whole system”, TDs are to be told.

In addition, access to the courts will also be compromised in an “entirely dysfunctional and counter-intuitive" way, the committee will be told, while the bill would give “untrammelled power” to the minister in certain matters which is of “serious concern”.

The Irish Environmental Network is set to raise its concerns about the draft Planning and Development Bill at Tuesday's meeting of the Oireachtas housing committee.

The major overhaul of planning laws would see An Bord Pleanála renamed, statutory mandatory timelines introduced for all processes, and new limits placed on access to taking judicial reviews.

The Irish Environmental Network’s environmental law officer Attracta Uí Bhroin will be joined by members of An Taisce and FP Logue Law’s Fred Logue for the meeting. In the case of Mr Logue, his firm has been involved in dozens of cases of judicial review against housing schemes which have been granted planning permission.

“A key rationale for this overhaul is the need to support the urgent delivery of hundreds of thousands of homes, and critical infrastructure, including for energy and transport,” Ms Uí Bhroin will say.

Our concern is that in many respects we see conflict, dysfunction and delay resulting from this draft legislation, rather than the much needed coherence, efficiency and speed.” 

According to Ms Uí Bhroin, access to the courts must be quick and efficient, and add value to the planning system.

She will tell TDs: “But alarmingly, in Part 9 in particular, with changes to judicial review, the bill proposes a veritable cat’s cradle of obstacles, making it more difficult for the public to hold a whole range of public authorities to account before the courts for the lawfulness of their decisions, via judicial review.

“Rather than speeding things up, this risks adding to delays, as the legality of these new restrictions will inevitably be challenged and argued first... The uncertainties arising from any such challenge will spread like a virus through the whole system.” 

Ms Uí Bhroin will recommend more adequate time is afforded to address this legislation “given the major issues being identified through this pre-legislative scrutiny, the many corrections and inconsistencies to be resolved and the further complex areas still to come”.

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Also addressing the committee is the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) which will highlight a submission it has made to Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien regarding low-rise medium density housing which should be introduced as a priority.

“Our current housing standards, which are rooted in century old guidance, are delivering low-density suburban housing enclaves, often with less than 30 units per hectare,” RIAI chief executive Kathryn Meghen will say.

“Throughout Europe, there are many examples of exceptional high-quality low-rise, medium density housing developments but virtually none here in Ireland.”