Planning chief blasts 'lack of coherence' in zoning policy
THE public has no faith in planning policy across the country because of inconsistencies across the board, the country's most senior planner said yesterday.
Chairman of An Bord Pleanala, John O'Connor, launched a blistering attack on poor practice in his own sector.
He said the system "lacked coherence" at local, regional and national level.
The board's chairman claimed the current system saw authorities regularly deviating from plans and he urged a reduction in the number of local authorities tasked with deciding planning applications.
Calling for a cull, he said there were over 90 bodies with power to grant planning permission and the bloated system needed to be rationalised.
In a speech to an EPA conference in Croke Park yesterday, he also claimed:
l There was a "lack of transparency" in the creation of development plans which outline how an area should develop over a five-year period.
l Land was being zoned in ways not in the common good.
l Housing developments were built without essential facilities and with no regard as to how people got to work.
l Planning authorities showed a "weak adherence" to development plans.
l There was a need to "constrain" market forces.
Battle
"There are different policies and priorities in the public and private sector as to what is acceptable development," the planning chief warned. "The local interest is not the same as regional or national interest, and the interest of the landowner is not the same as the common good.
"If we get it wrong at the planning stage we're fighting a losing battle on other fronts.
"I think planning in some authorities is lacking coherence and consistency at national, regional and local level."
Very often objectives in the development plan were not followed through when decisions were handed down, he said.
Planners should adopt a common sense approach.
"We should not have to wait for ministerial guidelines to tell us we shouldn't build on flood plains," Mr O'Connor said. "We need to ensure areas are developed with convenient essential services to reduce the need to travel for the minor necessities of life.
"There should be no question in the future of zoning wetlands and woodlands [for development]. The planning system has not done enough to protect landscapes.
"Development plans often have worthy objectives but the system isn't recognising those. Unless local authorities respect plans, the public and developers won't."
There had been a failure to face up to hard decisions and important issues were being "lost in bureaucracy", he said.
A lack of policy was often to blame, with planners left to fill a "policy vacuum". While not going into details, he said An Bord Pleanala is currently deciding two separate applications for high-rise development in Dublin 4, despite a lack of policy on how tall buildings can go in the capital.
"We have a very fractured planning system, should we not be rationalising? It's important decisions are seen to be consistent, a lot of stress needs to be put on consistency.
"We can do much better if we can refocus."
- Paul Melia
