On 9 October 2024 the Oireachtas passed the Planning and Development Act 2024, the Act was signed into law by the President on 17 October 2024.
The enactment of this legislation represents the culmination of a complete revision and reform of the law planning and development and the repeal of the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The Act is one of the largest pieces of legislation enacted by the Oireachtas running to 906 pages of primary legislation in 26 parts with 637 sections and seven schedules.
The Act provides for the adoption of a hierarchy of development plans to be adopted by the Government, Regional Assemblies and Planning Authorities and for the control of development through various development consent procedures and the enforcement of planning law. The new Act also provides procedures for environmental assessment, reforms An Bord Pleanála as An Coimisiún Pleanála and consolidates the powers and functions of the Office of the Planning Regulator.
It is no exaggeration to say that this legislation has far reaching consequences for everyone in the State, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of the climate and biodiversity crises as well as significant issues with the supply of good quality affordable housing.
The reform of An Bord Pleanála comes against the backdrop of significant governance failures in that institution, particularly around how it handled conflicts of interest and decisions on applications for strategic housing development, a large proportion of which were overturned by the courts.
The new Act maintains the current National Planning Framework, Regional and Spatial Economic Strategies and County Development plans, with the latter now having effect for at least 10 years compared with the current six year period. The Act provides for a new instrument called the National Planning Statement issued by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage which will contain mandatory policies and measures as well as advisory guidance.
The new Act removes the requirement for local area plans for all towns with a population greater than 5,000 leaving it to the discretion of individual planning authorities to designate settlements or parts of them for more detailed local planning.
The passage of the Act has not been without controversy, with concerns expressed about new restrictions on public participation and access to justice in the legislation as well as the apparent centralization of planning policy through the new National Planning Statement and the obligation on down-stream authorities to introduce amendments to plans using expedited procedures once national policy changes.
Question marks have already been raised about the capacity of planning authorities to adapt to the new system.
The Act has also been criticised for not doing enough to ensure delivery of affordable housing. While the Act focusses on granting longer duration planning permissions, facilitating the extension of duration, there is nothing new in terms of creating obligations or costs on landowners who do not apply for planning permission on zoned land or developers who do not implement granted planning permissions, which is surprising given the need expressed by the government for new legislation to speed up delivery of affordable housing.
In order to implement the new legislation it is expected that a range of secondary legislation and other implementation measures will be rolled out, with the aim of transitioning to the new framework in 2026.