Architecture & Planning

The implementation of the Planning & Development Act 2000, was heralded as a significant piece of legislation at the time of its enactment.

Consolidating the original 1963 Act and the considerable volume of subsequent amending legislation and implementing a series of reforms and new initiatives, the Act was broadly welcomed by the architectural and planning professions. The expectation of the professions had been that once the 2001 Regulations relating to the Act came into force that we could anticipate a clear, concise and efficient planning system.

Regrettably, the experience of most practitioners, their clients and the public has been that, in certain local authorities, bad practices have continued to flourish. While these bad practices occur in only some planning authorities it is enough to subvert the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government’s stated intention for Government services to have a strong customer focus.

Over the past number of months, the Department has been engaged in the preparation of new draft Regulations to take account of the experience of operating the 2001 Regulations and to implement amendments recommended by the professions, local authorities and other interested parties. In addition, the Department has been carrying out a Review of the Development Control and Advice Guidelines 1982, better known to most architects as the Yellow Book.

The RIAI has attempted to contribute to this review process in a proactive way. My predecessor, Toal O’Muire, has been a very active participant of the Review of the Guidelines and we have made submissions to the Department on the draft Regulations and have met with the Minister and officials to put forward the Institute’s views.

The strength of the 1982 Yellow Book was its success without being negative or adversarial in tone – in unambiguously setting down certain norms and principles of how to deal with development control.

The words ‘customer’ and ‘customer service’ were not used in 1982 yet the Yellow Book set a helpful and professional tone for the interaction between planning authorities and other parties. It is hoped that the new Guidelines will achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness and accessibility in the operation of the planning system.

As part of its contribution to the process, the RIAI has proposed to the Department the concept of a Planning Charter. Among the specific provisions of such a Planning Charter could be the following elements:

• Recognition of the right of owners of land and property to use and develop their land unless there are unacceptable consequences for the environment or the community.
• Right of applicant to a consistent and transparent planning process.
  Integrated, uniform and statutory implementation of Development Control Guidelines.
• Implementation of standardised methods for planning consultation applications and validation with priority given to built environment professionals.
• Defined response times.
• Courteous and efficient customer focused services.
• Greater emphasis on Area Planning rather than development control.
• Recognition of the need for the planning system to promote and encourage quality in the built environment.

Despite the significant work of the Department in amalgamating the various Planning Acts in the 2000 Legislation practitioners are experiencing a considerable degree of frustration and alienation in dealing with the system, because a number of Planning Authorities, or individual staff, act as independent agencies without any effective management. If professionals experience such difficulties without planning system the impact is even greater on the citizen.

The RIAI also believes that it is essential that a Planning Monitoring Body is established if we are to achieve lasting improvements to our planning system. The RIAI would see the following as the main functions of such a Planning Monitoring Body.

• To advise the Minister on matters relating to Planning.
• To monitor the implementation of the Development Control Guidelines, Planning Charter and other DOEHLG Planning Policies.
• To advise the DOEHLG on generic problems and issues experienced by users of the system.
• To monitor performance standards of Planning Authorities.
• To advise the DOEHLG on good Planning practice.

In general people are clear about what they want from the planning system as it effects their communities – places that are safe, clean, friendly and prosperous, with good amenities such as education, health services, shopping and green spaces.

These priorities are generally known and have been shown to work in traditional city centres, towns and villages. However, too many places resulting from our current approach and planning systems are failing to deliver what people want. This is because there has been an excessive reliance on planning by single use zoning and an over emphasis on development control.

There have been some good examples of where it has been successfully achieved – Temple Bar, Docklands, the HARP area and Ballymun in Dublin, the towns and villages of Mayo and West Cork.

However, in general development is not resulting in communities in which people can live fulfilled lives. There are too many housing estates built in places with no amenities, too many retail developments serving no other purpose than shopping by car, too many hospitals and schools isolated from the communities they serve.

The reasons for this are complex – planning guidelines have, in the past, often led to single use developments because it was easier for all concerned, except of course the community at large. The development process has resulted in guidance on matters such as road design regulations making it impossible to deliver safe and attractive places. There has been poor leadership and vision for local areas and some developers have delivered lowest common denominator projects because there has been no incentive to do otherwise.

The most successful from a planning perspective have been those where Local Area Plans, Area Action Plans and Masterplans have been implemented following an extensive public consultation process.

To improve on the current situation we need to have the RIAI reforms implemented and some common goals in our planning system. We need a clear understanding of the sort of communities we are trying to achieve in both urban and rural areas. We need strong leadership at local level that will drive a vision forward in conjunction with all key partners.

In particular, we need efficient, transparent processes for delivery including creation of the vision, development of sustainable strategies including infrastructure requirements and development opportunities, arrangements for engaging the local community and effective pre planning and planning processes. Most of all we need skilled committed individuals working together to make peoples priorities a reality.

By implementing our proposals the RIAI believes the planning system will be more efficient, responsive and accountable and will meet the needs of Irish society more effectively for the twenty-first century.