Landmark planning legislation may not be passed by Oireachtas until 2024

 The chair of the Oireachtas housing committee has indicated he is reserving judgment on landmark planning legislation approved by the Cabinet, warning against any potential “watering down” of citizen’s rights in the final version. The planning and development bill has not yet been published, with Green Party TD Steven Matthews saying on Tuesday that the “devil is in the detail”. Mr Matthews’ committee conducted extensive pre-legislative scrutiny on the draft bill earlier this year, making 153 recommendations in its final report. While he indicated that an outline of the bill published by the Government suggested many of the recommendations had been adopted, he added: “The devil’s in the detail – there’s a difference between the guide and what’s written down in the legislation.” The final bill is expected in the next two weeks, with focus likely to come on whether access to judicial review has been curtailed, a key bone of contention for some backbench greens and environmental groups.

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New planning law to speed up developments will be passed by Christmas, says O’Brien

 A controversial Bill addressing systemic problems in the planning process and long delays in the completion times of developments will be enacted by Christmas, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has said. The Planning and Development Bill runs to over 750 pages and is the third largest piece of legislation to be published in the history of the State. It includes a number of changes designed to accelerate building during the housing crisis, including fines for breaches of mandatory planning deadlines, and placing new limits related to the standing of parties to take court cases. The draft Bill extends the duration of a development plan from six years to 10 years, with a further two-year extension in exceptional circumstances. It will also provide for a new Coimisiún Pleanála to replace An Bord Pleanála.

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Planning Bill row: Greens to seek changes to proposed judicial review curbs

 The Green Party is set to seek changes to Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s landmark planning Bill after divisions emerged in Government over a key plank of the reforms. It is understood that two Green Ministers, Catherine Martin and Roderic O’Gorman, raised concerns at Cabinet on Tuesday over aspects of the Bill focused on reform of the judicial review process. Under the draft legislation, the scope for judicial reviews of planning decisions is to be narrowed in an effort to streamline the planning system, which critics say sees projects bogged down for years in courtroom challenges. It is understood that both Ministers highlighted the need for amendments around access to justice and public participation in decision-making, thought to be centred on the reforms to judicial reviews.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

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