Address by Minister Peter Burke to The Irish Planning Institute National Planning Conference

Clayton White’s Hotel, Wexford

19th November 2021

Introduction

• I am delighted to be here with you all this morning and would like to thank Dr. Conor Norton, President of the Irish Planning Institute, for inviting me to be with you here today at your annual planning conference.

• It has been a very difficult 20 months for the people of Ireland and this morning, I want to acknowledge the role that everybody in this room played in terms of supporting citizens and businesses during this pandemic.

• Through keeping the planning system operating as an essential service, running pre-planning meetings, public consultation exercises and council meetings online, to enabling outdoor dining and sustainable travel schemes, those involved in planning and local authorities in particular, have been at the heart of helping communities over the last very difficult period of our country’s history.

• On behalf of the Government and indeed myself as Minister for Local Government, I want to thank each of you for your contribution during these difficult times and please pass on my thanks to your colleagues also.

• Given the unprecedented challenges we have faced, and the flexibility and resourcefulness that we have collectively shown, our skills have been honed. We are now well placed to bring a new level of expertise and ingenuity to ensure that the planning system is sufficiently dynamic and responsive to meet the future need of our country, and in ways that are enduring and environmentally sustainable.

Plan-Led system

• The theme of this year’s IPI Conference “DELIVERING PLAN LED DEVELOPMENT” is particularly relevant at this time. One of the key transformations underway for a number of years in the planning system is the move to a plan led rather than a development-led system. The development plan process which is underway at the moment in many local authorities is critical to setting the context for future planning applications.

• Only last week my Department held a full day seminar with Local Authorities’ Directors of Planning to discuss a range of legislative reforms and guidance to support this process. And indeed, there has also been strong engagement with the Office of the Planning Regulator throughout, given the important role played by that Office in the evaluation of plans now emerging.

• This is a key underpinning of the plan-led approach and the hierarchy of planning from national, through regional to local. It is the first cycle of this approach, and from our perspective, we will continue to learn and to update legislation and guidance as required.

• To my mind, there are two issues are fundamental to the plan-led system: activation and engagement.

• In particular, Housing for All sets out an ambitious programme of reform to deal with the issue of activation. This includes the incentives to tackle those planning permissions which are not moving for viability reasons, through a range of affordable schemes and the new Croí Cónaithe Fund.

• There are also measures focused on the longer term, such as the new tax on zoned housing development land and the proposed legislation on land value sharing and urban development zones, and I hope you found yesterday’s presentations on these issues informative.

• But ultimately, a plan is dependent on a wide basis of support, and this needs good quality engagement and I am confident that the IPI will support this. We need to ensure for the future that there is more debate at the plan stage on the development of areas, rather than controversy at the planning application stage.

• We need to ensure that the needs of both the future and the existing population are taken into account. I see this as an important underpinning of our approach to the town centre first principle which has also been outlined. We need the form of wide scale stakeholder engagement that can ultimately bring a greater consensus around development.

• This is particularly important to address the major challenges of increased housing development with an average 33,000 units required per annum over the next decade, more than one-third higher than present, the challenges of compact growth, height and density in the context of population growth and climate change, and the major increases required in renewable energy both on and off shore.

Sustainable Communities and Rural Development

• At the heart of good planning should be a fundamental re-appraisal of what it is going to take to create and sustain strong communities, especially in rural areas into the future.

• As Minister with responsibility Planning, I have seen a narrative taking shape, questioning the capacity of the cornerstone of our planning policy, The National Planning Framework (NPF) and its ability to deliver for our citizens in a post-pandemic Ireland. False and misleading narratives stating that our rural counties must reduce their zoned land capacity and that there is an imminent ban on one-off rural housing have been passed around like snuff at a wake. However we must stress-test these narratives against fact.

• Let me first deal with our capacity as a society to accommodate and encourage more remote and blended working approaches, which the government recognises as a key opportunity we must now grasp.

• An obstacle to our society accommodating this demand that has been robustly but mistakenly highlighted is the lack of zoned land for residential development outside our cities. History tells us that if we do the same thing over and over again, we cannot expect a different result. So let’s look in the rear view mirror for a moment. In 2010, we had sufficient land zoned in Ireland to accommodate a population of ten million people when we were still half a million short of five million!

• Vital infrastructure such as water, waste-water, and capacity of our schools, recreational and childcare facilities could only play catch-up as who could predict where development would actually take place? Where it did, the ghost estate phenomenon revealed that much of it was simply in the wrong place. You more than most will appreciate the legacies that ensued because of this short-term opportunism!

• A critical component of planning policy is to deliver housing in the right place underwritten by vital infrastructure to deliver sustainable communities. In this case, less can be more. We need more zoned land in the right place with accessible infrastructure at its fingertips. And less in areas where we belatedly ask the State to intervene, placing huge demand on our resources at a time when our economy is restricted.

• As many in our National Parliament pick up the loudhailer to say there isn’t sufficient zoned land outside our cities to adsorb latent demand, again I draw on the facts. Almost every single one of our local authorities must increase housing output, and 22 out of 31 local authorities have to increase their housing output by more than 100% per annum over the next six years – they must double what they have been delivering in recent years and provide enough zoned land to do so.

• What may be a shock to some at the epicentre of the lack of zoned land debate is that ten local authorities must increase housing output by more than 250% per annum! And that is just to meet the demand identified by the ESRI and accommodated by the objectives of the NPF. As the saying goes “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”. We can be assured the axe is sharp, it’s time to deliver on the capacity we have under current plans in the right place backed up by essential public infrastructure.

• It is important for me to clarify that the Department has not instructed or requested local authorities to de-zone serviced or serviceable development land, contrary to a narrative that may be out there. As has been outlined, the development plan guidelines seek ensure that local authorities to prioritise the zoning and development of serviced land.

• We must ultimately ensure that land that is zoned and serviced and planning permissions that are granted for housing will create communities of homes, enabling good quality of life for future generations.

• Let me also address the eternal debate of one-off rural housing. Rural housing has consistently accounted for 25% of our annual housing output and some 5,000 new homes per annum in recent years, but some will vouch that it’s an endangered commodity, an argument which has emotional connotations for many. As someone from a rural constituency, I want to put on the record that the Government recognises the importance of rural housing and its value both to our supply and to sustaining rural communities. I also know its development must be based on need and not create licenses to build unreservedly.

• I recently reviewed the figures for successful one-off housing applicants, county by county, and noted a success rate above 80% in almost all locations. These facts speak volumes, this is evidence-based, not anecdotal hearsay. As a former Auditor, naturally I have reviewed the statistics for the withdrawal of planning applications and this figure was immaterial to the debate. Again perspective is required and too often absent from the debate.

• I want to be clear - there has been no change in policy, no major shift in the National Planning Framework away from rural housing – the NPF has laid the foundation for an updated rural housing policy that I expect it to continue to play a vital role in the accommodation of our people for years to come, and nothing I have seen or heard in Custom House over the past year has negatively affected my outlook on this.

Densities at the edge of Towns

• Any discussion about sustainable communities and rural development would be incomplete without addressing residential densities.

• Achieving effective use of urban development land provided with the necessary physical and social infrastructure and good urban design solutions is a key objective of the planning process.

• Rather than introduce new or increased requirements, both the NPF and the Programme for Government underpin pre-existing requirements for residential density. The National Planning Framework restates the commitment to implement statutory planning guidelines on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas, published by my Department in 2009.

• The Guidelines on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas generally require densities in the range of 35-50 dwellings per hectare (dph) on outer suburban/greenfield sites. The Guidelines also provide scope for densities below 35 dph on more peripheral sites and in smaller towns and villages, in particular to assist in delivering more sustainable alternatives to dispersed rural housing. These requirements have been established Government policy for a significant period of time, dating back to the late 1990’s.

• While the principles, approaches and general requirements of the Sustainable Residential Development Guidelines continue to be applicable to the objectives of the NPF - the development of compact, sustainable and liveable settlements, it is acknowledged that this guidance is need of update, given the emphasis that the NPF places on tailored, plan-led and design-focused compact growth.

• My Department is currently undertaking a practical and targeted review to update the Sustainable Residential Development Guidelines with a new Sustainable and Compact Settlement Guidelines (SCSG) document.

• In the meantime, my Department issued a Circular in April this year to the Planning Authorities, An Bord Pleanála and to the Planning Regulator to provide clarity in relation to the interpretation and application of current statutory guidelines.

• This accords with the approach set out in the National Planning Framework (NPF), which identifies a need for more proportionate and tailored approaches to residential development, to ensure that suburban or high density urban approaches are not applied uniformly and that development responds appropriately to the character, scale and setting of the town or village.

• In certain locations, particularly at the edges of towns in a rural context, more compact forms of development may include residential densities at a lower level than would be considered appropriate in a city or large town context.

• I am satisfied that current statutory guidance is already sufficiently flexible to facilitate greater variation in residential density at such locations.

• We will shortly be launching our policy framework for Town Centre First which will very much gel with these ambitions by ensuring that we focus on the sustainable development of towns, particularly those which have suffered from economic declines and depopulation and are blighted by areas of dereliction and vacant properties. It is a combined action which will see sustainable development and balanced regional growth aligned with the National Planning Framework.

Role of the Planning Profession

• In the broader context of Covid-19, Climate Action, housing and infrastructural needs, to name just a few of the many issues we need to address, we will need new skillsets, new approaches within the planning profession.

• The revised National Development Plan 2021-2030 is a key pillar to the Programme for Government and more critical than ever as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to tackle Climate Change in a more meaningful way. For the first time since the formation of the State we have a commitment to capital spending above 5% of our economic output (Gross National Income) which will place us above historical EU averages of 3% of GDP.

• In addition, Housing for All recognises that we will need to Build Institutional Capacity through resourcing local authorities to meet the increasing demands of the planning system. In parallel, it is also acknowledged that the scale of ambition in terms of the scale and output of delivery needs to be reflected in the resourcing of An Bord Pleanála, the OPR and my own Department.

• We will need to capitalise on the opportunity to secure these new resources and levels of output, particularly so in relation to the role of the planner not just in plan preparation and planning application assessment but in playing the key role in place-making, delivery and implementation.

• Therefore, I invite your profession to embrace these possibilities and become the “place-makers”, working with communities, elected representatives and the development sector to achieve successful outcomes, that we can all be proud of.

• We need the IPI to support and encourage the leading planners of tomorrow that mobilise their communities and stakeholders in realising bold new visions and innovative approaches.

Conclusion

• Covid-19 came in like a hurricane in March 2020 and changed our lives. And while we still grapple with its impacts, we must also grasp the golden opportunities and learnings it has presented for a more sustainable society. In the highly charged political arena that is the 33rd Dáil, repetition makes an assertion seem true, regardless of whether it is or not. Our National Planning Framework stands ready to provide the pathway to a new, better and sustainable normality.

• There are going to be tough choices and hard decisions to be made given the compact growth model the Government has prioritised.

• Housing for All and the range of actions underway demonstrates that the Government recognises the centrality of effective and integrated planning, land management and infrastructure investment processes.

• We have shown agility and a spirit of collaboration in learning from the successes and facing the challenges of Covid, Brexit and indeed Climate Action, to ensure we meet the needs of our communities, our economy and our environment. We must continue to be resilient and innovative in our approach.

• Conor and members of your Institute, I am confident that you will work with us to help deliver an energised planning system that is robust, fair and sustainable. Working together, we can ensure we have the right development, in the right places, at the right time.

• I would like to extend my thanks again to the Irish Planning Institute for the invite today and wish you every success with the Conference.

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