The Planning Bill published today contains a substantial number of changes designed to streamline the system and speed up the processing of applications, including new restrictions on the rights of objectors.
For example, no appeals by third parties to An Bord Pleanla will be entertained in future unless those involved have first made their objections to the relevant local authority and paid a fee of £20 to have their written submissions considered by the planners.
At present, any submissions by objectors are free. It is only when such third parties make appeals to An Bord Pleanala against a local authority's decision that a fee is required; £120 for an appeal and a further £120 for an oral hearing request.
The appeals board is also to be given the right to reject appeals in cases where it has reason to believe they are being made with the aim of delaying a development or for the purposes of blackmailing a developer into paying off objectors.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, said he accepted that many of the submissions made by third parties on planning applications were "helpful" to the planners, but they cost money to process and he did not believe a £20 charge was "in any way excessive".
He also "refuted absolutely" any suggestion that it was short-staffing in planning departments, rather than the input of third parties, which was to blame for the often lengthy delays in processing applications complained of by housing and other developers.
The Minister pointed out that the local authorities had processed 67,075 planning applications last year, a 50 per cent increase on 1990, and said he told them if they needed more planners they should hire them.
The Bill requires local authorities to make planning decisions within eight weeks, instead of the present two calendar months.
Where additional information is sought, planning authorities will have a further four weeks (rather than two months) to issue their decision.
It also includes revised provisions regarding outline planning permission, designed to give greater certainty to developers when they seek full planning permission as well as the formalisation of "pre-planning" consultations between developers and planners.
The right of third parties to seek a judicial review of any decision by An Bord Pleanala is substantially curtailed. In future, anyone making such an application to the High Court will first have to prove a "substantial interest in the matter", in other words, a property interest.
The Minister said the Bill was an attempt to balance many different interests and would require careful assessment by interested parties. He would be organising seminars in Dublin, Cork and Galway to explain its "often complex" provisions to the public.
"I'm not claiming that the Bill is perfect in every detail or that it is written in stone", he said. "I'm prepared to listen to any well-made suggestion for improvement. I will not be slow to bring forward any amendments I think desirable".
