Challenge to proposed Dalkey nursing home must be made in respondents presence, court rules

 A High Court judge has directed that a challenge brought by several Dalkey residents, including broadcaster Pat Kenny, against the granting of planning permission for a nursing home in the South Dublin suburb should be made on notice to the other parties involved in the action. Mr Kenny, along with Christopher Herbert, Tom Palmer and Peter Cullen, have brought judicial review proceedings over An Bord Pleanála's decision of July 6th to grant Bartra Property Ltd permission to construct a 104-bed nursing home on lands at Ulverton Roadd and Harbour Road in Dalkey. In their proceedings, the plaintiffs, who live near the proposed five-story development, seek various orders and declarations, including an order setting aside the board's decision which they say is flawed. Among the grounds of their challenge is that the proposed nursing home will adversely impact on badgers living on the lands. The proceedings came before Mr Justice Liam Kennedy during Tuesday's vacation sitting of the High Court. The judge was asked, on an ex-parte basis, to grant the applicants permission to bring their challenge against the board's decision. After considering submissions by Alan Doyle Bl, instructed by solicitor Fred Logue for the residents, the judge directed that the application for permission to bring the challenge should be heard on notice to, or in the presence of, the other parties. As well as suing the board, the residents' action is against the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Ireland and the Attorney General.

Read the full article @ www.breakingnews.ie

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Government defends changes to judicial reviews of planning decisions

 The Government is defending changes to how judicial reviews can be brought against planning applications, under extensive reforms of the country's planning laws. The Planning and Development Bill, brought forward by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, received Cabinet approval on Tuesday after taking over two years to draft. The bill itself, the third-largest in the history of the State at 691 pages, will reform how Ireland’s planning system operates, with reforms at An Bord Pleanála, changes to local development plans, and restrictions on judicial reviews all contained within. Mr O’Brien described the bill as a “very significant change that will last the next 20, 25 years”. The bill will change the manner in which judicial reviews can be brought by members of the public against planning decisions. In particular, it will introduce restraints on residents' associations bringing forward judicial reviews, unless they have a constitution and vote two-thirds in favour of taking a case to court. Any applicants for judicial reviews, barring environmental NGOs, will also need to have “exhausted any available appeal procedures” before they can take a court case against a planning decision.

Read the full article @ Irish Examiner 

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IHREC calls for changes to planning bill

 The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) has called for changes to a proposed bill on planning in relation to accommodation for the Travelling community. In a statement, the commission said that the State “continues to fail” in the provision of accommodation to the Traveller community, describing the current system as “incoherent and inadequate”. In a submission on the Planning and Development Bill 2022, the human-rights body calls for an amendment to put Traveller-specific accommodation in an exceptional category. It points out that the vast majority of Traveller-specific accommodation is currently delivered through part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, “ostensibly to assist public debate and scrutiny”. “However, this often gives rise to significant challenges in terms of providing Traveller-specific accommodation, often due to local opposition and the consequent politicisation of the process,” the commission says. Its proposed amendment would mean that Traveller accommodation would not be exempted from the need to be approved by An Coimisiùn Pleanála and could, therefore, be removed from the part 8 process.

Read the full article @  www.lawsociety.ie

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Planning bill makes changes on JR process

 The Government has approved a new bill to reform the planning system that is being described as the third-largest bill in the State’s history. The Department of Housing said that the proposed legislation would bring “greater clarity, certainty and consistency” to how planning decisions were made, and would make the system more coherent and user-friendly. The Government says that it will take “a number of weeks” to prepare the Planning and Development Bill 2023 for publication, due to its size.  It contains a number of changes from the draft bill that was published earlier this year. These include more detail on statutory mandatory timelines for all consent processes – including An Bord Pleanála (ABP) decisions. The key time periods will range from 18 weeks for appeals of decisions of planning authorities to 48 weeks for strategic infrastructure developments. These will be introduced on a phased basis. The headline period for planning authorities to make decisions will remain at eight weeks, with an additional four weeks allowed for applications that require an environmental assessment.

Read the full article @ www.lawsociety.ie

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Council gives green light for revamp of protected structure building on O'Connell Street

 DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has given the green light to Hammerson plc’s latest phase of its planned €500 million transformation plan for Dublin city centre. The development is opposed by some politicians including Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams. The Council has granted planning permission to Hammerson-owned Dublin Central GP Ltd for the revamp of a protected structure – 61 O’Connell Street Upper – that comprises the conservation, repair, refurbishment and adaptive reuse of the existing four storey commercial building. The scheme is to include two licensed restaurant/cafe units with takeaway/collection facilities, three two-bed apartments and a gym/leisure studio at basement level. The Council has granted planning permission after concluding that the proposal would be in accordance with Development Plan policy which support bringing upper floors into use, reducing vacancy and rehabilitating and re-using existing older buildings. The Council concluded that the proposed development is unlikely to have a negative impact on the amenities of adjoining properties.

Read the full article @ thejournal.ie

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Number of homes granted planning permission drops by 23pc in second quarter

 The number of homes granted planning permission dropped by 23pc in the second quarter of 2023, new statistics show. However, officials cautioned that planning permission figures can fluctuate significantly between quarters and this is not necessarily indicative of a longer trend. Figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show permission was granted for 8,723 properties in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 11,374 during the same period in 2022. The number of houses granted planning permission fell by 18pc on an annual basis to 3,702 housing units, while apartment approvals were down by 27pc to 5,021 units. Despite the drop, apartments still accounted for the majority of new planning permissions. This was almost entirely centred on Dublin, where the four local authorities in the capital granted permission for 3,351 apartments in the second quarter of the year. Permission was granted for 424 new houses in the capital over the same period.

Read the full article @ The Irish Independent
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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.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

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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.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

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