HOUSING MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien has published legislation to reform the planning system, with changes to local development plans aimed at dissuading people from taking judicial reviews.
The Planning and Development Bill 2023 will introduce wide ranging reform of the planning system and was approved by Cabinet in late 2022.
Some of these reforms include how judicial reviews are brought, with the bill changing how residents associations can take cases against planning decisions, as well as introducing an extension the time local development plans are in effect.
Under the new bill, resident associations will be required to have a named individual or group of individuals commence a judicial review forward, rather than bringing it forward as a broader residents’ association.
A source said that it was hoped that judicial reviews would be made a “waste of time”.
There will also be timelines set out for the entire judicial review process, from pleading cases to the delivery of a judgement.
Judicial reviews are cases taken by citizens or groups to the High Court. In recent years, such cases have been used to challenge decisions made by An Bord Pleanála on large-scale property developments around the country.
The new bill will also allow for either An Bord Pleanála or local authorities to correct errors of fact or law in their planning decisions and will also allow them to make a stay on the decision of the judicial review while doing so.
There will also be mandatory timelines set on planning decisions by planning boards across the country, with penalties to be put in place if decisions are made late.
Mandatory planning guidance will be issued directly by the Government
The change to local development plans will see their overall lifespan extended from six years to ten years, with the plans set to become more specific on planning matters.
A source said it was hoped that this would mean taking judicial reviews would become a “waste of time”.
The new ten-year plans will also be reviewed in the fifth year.
Currently, local authorities create development plans that map out what individual lands are zoned for, whether that is residential, commercial or industrial.
Under the new plan, development plans will be made more specific in the type of development that will be allowed take place in localities, with more details on the style of development.
This means that areas zoned for residential use may be more specifically labelled to be for low-density or high-density residential development.
Under the bill – which is over 700 pages long - An Bord Pleanála will be reorganised into An Coimisiún Pleanála, following an Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) review in 2022.
This reorganisation will see the separation of both decision-making and the corporate roles, with the introduction of Planning Commissioners and a Governing Executive.
On the decision-making side, there will be 14 Planning Commissioners alongside a Chief Planning Commissioner. These roles will replace the existing chairperson and board member roles.
The Governing Executive will be responsible for the governance of An Coimisiún Pleanála, with a Chief Executive and seven non-executive members.
The restructuring of the planning body comes following on from controversy in 2022 around the body, with Chairperson Dave Walsh opting to retire early in November.
While the bill was agreed at Cabinet late last year, it is understood that there were concerns raised by three Green Party ministers when the legislation was being considered.
In particular, these concerns were flagged over the proposed changes to how judicial reviews will work and whether it will impact on access to justice.
However, Green Party sources have said there will be “extensive” discussions when the legislation goes through pre-legislative scrutiny in the Oireachtas Housing Committee, where issues will be “thrashed out” and solutions found.
The party is understood to believe that the “widest number of people should be allowed to take an appeal if they so wish”.
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