The Hardware Journal recently spoke with Niall Cussen, Chief Executive and Planning Regulator at the
Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR)
Niall, could you summarise the key planning issues today and the broad shape of the planning process?
Ireland’s planning process must contend with many issues such as our rapidly growing population which necessitates the delivery of more homes, planning for future infrastructure and a carbon emissions free future and adapting to the ever-more visible impacts of climate change like flood risk.
As noted in previous features in this magazine, the importance of securing re-use of the thousands of empty buildings in and around our cities, towns and villages and rural areas is also a real talking and action point in planning circles.
Planning functions in Ireland are primarily delivered by the 31 local authorities who prepare county and city development plans and local area plans to steer the decisions they make on around 30,000 planning applications every year, over 90% of which are approved.
An Bord Pleanála decides on appeals that can be made in respect of those planning decisions and certain applications made directly to the Board for large infrastructure projects. The Courts too have seen a growing level of legal challenges to planning decisions, which is one of the reasons a major review was undertaken by Government of planning legislation to enable greater certainty and efficiency in the process.
Government and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage set a long term policy context for planning in the form of the National Planning Framework and various guidelines on a range of planning matters. The €165bn National Development Plan backs up national, regional and local planning objectives with investment now being seen more visibly across the country through housing delivery, transport investment and urban and rural regeneration.
So where does the Office of the Planning Regulator fit in to all of this?
If I might adapt an old hardware advertising slogan – to ensure that that the planning process does “what it says on the tin”. In other words, oversight, because of the criticality of achieving planning aims and the enormous billions of investment now going to sustainable national and regional development.
Accordingly, the Office has three main functions:
- Independently checking that local authority plans are broadly consistent with strategic policies for planning as determined by Government and the local authority system itself through its Regional Assemblies, which prepare Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies;
- Undertaking regular reviews of the systems and procedures for delivering planning functions by the 31 local authorities and An Bord Pleanála, including examining issues flagged to us by users of the planning process including the general public; and
- Enhancing the public’s awareness and understanding of the planning process as well as providing proper training for local authority councillors and staff and undertaking detailed planning research.
So what are the key areas of interaction by citizens with the planning process?
We are seeing a growing level of participation by communities in the drawing up of development plans and local area plans by local authorities and through new mechanisms like online consultation portals. If you see advertisements in your local area, these are great opportunities to have your say in the future development of your area. Live consultations are tracked on our website, www.opr.ie.
However, most people interact with the planning process because they are contemplating doing work around the house, farm or business and might want to check whether or not they need planning permission or are one of the 30,000 people that apply for permission each year. While the planning process can appear complex to those who haven’t worked with it previously, we have published a series of concise, easy to read planning leaflets, which deal with all aspects of the planning system. Careful
preparation is key to making planning applications in particular, so four of our most popular leaflets deal with:
- Introducing the Planning System – a simple guide to understanding the planning system in Ireland and how it works.
- A Guide to Doing Work around the House – a practical guide to what work you can do around your house without needing to apply for planning permission.
- A Guide to Making a Planning Application – practical advice on how to prepare and lodge a planning
application with your local planning authority (city or county council). - A Guide to Architectural Heritage – explaining how structures of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest are protected under planning law.
We have also published animated explainer videos, flowcharts, and links to planning authority online resources which the public are finding really helpful in preparing them for planning queries or applications they might be contemplating in extending their homes, building or renovating their own homes as well as other agricultural or commercial proposals they might have in mind.
We often hear about planning delays so what is being done about this?
It is fair to say that as a consequence of rapid economic growth and the many parallel demands on our planning process, while a lot of really great work goes on in areas like forward planning, urban and rural regeneration etc performance of other aspects of the planning process is not sometimes what it should be.
While it is important to remember that over 90% of planning applications are approved by local authorities and within a few months of those applications being made, we have seen the performance of An Bord Pleanála deteriorate significantly in recent times and in areas like enforcement, some local authorities are really struggling as we find when we conduct reviews, all of which are published on our
website. Fortunately, Government is strongly committed to comprehensively updating planning legislation under the 2023 Planning Bill, to implementing a comprehensive reform plan for An Bord Pleanála, and to better resourcing of the wider planning system, including better training opportunities for both present and future planning staff.
Roll-out of an online planning application facility across the local authority sector is also ongoing and will be complete by end 2024 and the ePlanning Portal can be accessed here. The key point is that if contemplating making a planning application, take the time to carefully prepare, get good advice (our resources are free and easy to use to get you started), avail of pre-application consultation with your local authority, some of which is now online, listen to the advice you get and act on it.
At the same time, take the opportunity to consider the wider issues the planning process addresses including the growth in population of our country (by a million people or more to 2040) housing, infrastructure and employment needs that all need to be met and in a way that will decarbonise our way of life. It’s really important to avail of opportunities to have your voice heard in the plan-making process too.
Visit www.opr.ie for more information.
