Councillors concerns over changes to Planning Bill

Concerns over Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien’s amendment to the Planning and Development Bill which is currently making its way through the Oireachteas, led to a suspension of standing orders at the Greystones Municipal District March meeting, such is the gravity of the amendment which is believed to have come on foot of the refusal for a major housing development in the town.

Councillors Derek Mitchell and Lourda Scott raised fears over the recently introduced ‘S605 of the Planning & Development Bill’ and asked for it to be “cancelled”.

The controversial amendment, tabled in February by the Minister, would prohibit Local Authorities or An Bord Pleanála (ABP) from refusing to grant permission for a residential development on grounds that a set housing target for a town had already been met. The implications for Greystones couldn’t be more stark, given a strategic housing development of some 98 units was refused in May 2023 for that very reason, and the town is already well over its target popular for 2028.

Cairn Homes had applied for permission to develop land at Coolagad, Blacklion, with the initial plans seeking the construction of some 607 houses at a 26-hectare site which surrounds the Temple Carrig School.

Permission was first sought under a fast-track strategic housing development (SHD) application to ABP. Under the SHD scheme, applications for developments of more than 100 units go directly to ABP rather than the planning authority of Wicklow County Council. The Bord said further consideration was needed in relation to several issues, including the design and layout of the site.

This was then progressed on what looked like a phased basis, beginning with 98 two-storey houses, which were refused by Wicklow County Council. In its refusal to grant permission for the first phase, the Council pointed to the County Development Plan 2022-2028, “which indicate the housing targets for the Greystones-Delgany settlement in the plan period have already been reached” as well as the “scale and quantum” of the housing proposed.

The decision on the application for the 580 houses with ABP is still undecided.

The councillors argued that town infrastructure, such as water, schools and transport, is planned for the target population.

So a major increase in population needs more infrastructure. Greystones is already over its population target of 22,000 for 2028 and it is likely to be 26,000, 20pc over target, by 2028, with all the current planning permissions and applications in train.

Cllr Scott reiterated the fact it would “basically prohibit local authorities from refusing to grant permission” on the grounds that a housing target had already been met.

“We know the difficulties with infrastructure,” she said. “After all the hours we have spent democratically developing a county development plan, it just really seems extraordinary that the planning authority could be restricted in such a way.

“Interestingly,” she added, “there were documents released a couple of days ago giving legal advice from the Attorney General to the Minister in February, which makes it clear the amendment is based on that decision by Wicklow County Council around that [Cairns] planning application.”

While there are concerns that it “might be too late for the amendment to be dropped”, the elected members agreed that “all we can do is write”.