The new planning bill — forty shades of green or fifty shades of grey? 

Provisions in the bill which propose to make it more difficult to pursue judicial review of public authorities, if enacted, will mean those awaiting homes and critical infrastructure will suffer and it will have profound impacts on local environmental groups

New planning bill is more like fifty shades of grey, merging into very black storm clouds of litigation that will invariably and regrettably delay the delivery of homes and critical infrastructure. File picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

There is no one better capable of spin than an Irish politician. But the recently published Draft Planning and Development Bill is far from the Government’s forty shades of green and positive spin. 

It is more like fifty shades of grey, merging into very black storm clouds of litigation that will invariably and regrettably delay the delivery of homes and critical infrastructure. That is an unacceptable outcome.