The draft Planning and Development Bill 2022 (the Bill), published in January 2023, is the culmination of a fifteen-month review of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), led by the Office of the Attorney General.
The Bill proposes to concolidate, reform and streamline more than two decades of planning legislation into a single piece of legislation which is more ‘user friendly’, for both the public and practitioners alike, and bring greater clarity, consistency and certainty to how planning decisions are made. It is also intended to ensure greater alignment and consistency with our European and environmental obligations as well as in relation to the various tiers of national, regional and local plan-making.
Under Chapter 3 of the draft Bill, sections 84 to 109, quarries will still require permission as at present. However, the current substitute consent process for unauthorised quarries will be replaced by a retrospective consent process as set out in sections 124 to 129 of the draft Bill. Section 125 (1) proposes to ensure that the public will be entitled to make submissions to the An Coimisiún Pleanála, the new body which will replace An Bord Pleanála when the Bill is enacted, on such applications (including submissions as to the existence or absence of exceptional circumstances justifying a grant of retrospective consent) within such period as may be prescribed.
There is also a provision under section 299 of the draft Bill for the establishment of a new regional structure – on a shared service basis across a number of local authorities – for enforcement purposes on a number of activities, including quarries.
Section 299 (1) will allow me, as Minister, to designate a planning authority as a “regional enforcement authority” able to conduct enforcement in areas of other planning authorities as specified. Section 299 (3) will allow for a planning complaint to be made to a regional enforcement authority, in respect of development or proposed development belonging to a designated class that is situated or proposed to be situated in whole or in part in the designated region.
As outlined, these legislative updates provided for in the draft Bill will, when enacted, bring greater clarity, consistency and certainty to how planning decisions, including decisions pertaining to quarries, are made. In doing so, this will help facilitate the work of State agencies – which possess substantial levels of expertise and responsibility for regulating different aspects of quarries – as outlined in my response to the previous Parliamentary Question on this matter (No. 664 of 13 June).
Under Section 30 of the Act, I, in my role as Minister with responsibility for planning, am precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the Board is or may be concerned, except in very specific circumstances, which do not apply in this case.
