Irishplanningnews.ie

Local Authorities across the country have recently completed issuing notices to quarry owners.  These notices will inform the owners to either seek substitute consent from An Bord Pleanala or that they will be the subject of enforcement action by the council who will seek to close the operation.  Quarry owners have the right to seek a review of the Council’s decision within 21 days from An Bord Pleanala. The substitute consent process is subject to a tight timeframe of 12 weeks given that a remedial EIS or Appropriate Assessment will be required to be completed as part of the application. These notices arose from significant changes to the planning acts and are an effort to retrospectively address situations where development which was likely to have a significant impact on the environment was never actually assessed at the time.  The implications for quarry owners are serious as many face closure.  The benefit for those quarry owners that manage to go through the process and come out the far side is that there will be far less operators to compete against.

A question came before the Board as to whether

 (1) the erection of a metal fence,

(2) the placing of a builders’ hut/trailer, and

(3) the erection of gates, approximately six metres in width,

 all on lands adjoining Sidmonton Court, Bray, County Wicklow are or are not development or are or are not exempted development.

 Dun Laoighaire Rathdown had previously found the erection of a metal fence and placing of a builder’s hut/trailer to be exempt, but the erection of gates were not exempt.  Sidmonton Court Residents’ Association sought a referral from the Board on the matter.

An Bord Pleanála concluded that – Read the rest of this entry »

In what must be a record, An Bord Pleanala took over four years to reach a decision on an appeal concerning the continuation of quarrying activities at Fountain Cross Quarry, Ennis, County Clare.  The application was lodged in May 2008 and was only recently decided in August 2012.  Whilst the Board sought an Environmental Impact Assessment and an Appropriate Assessment as part of the assessment of the application, four years seems an incredibly long time to arrive at a decision.  Fortunately for the applicant the Board upheld the decision of Clare County Council to grant permission.

Phase 1 of the ‘Altitude’ leisure and tourism park was proposed on a 32-acre site in Dundalk, Co Louth, close to the M1 motorway.  Louth County Council granted permission however the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by the Louth Environment Group and An Taisce. The Board refused permission on the basis that the proposed development would be an unsustainable car-dependent development and was also found to be in an area vulnerable to coastal flooding. A previous application for a ski and leisure facility by another developer, Cobalt Developments Ltd, was also refused permission by An Bord Pleanala in Fingal.

New Draft Development Contribution Guidelines published

The draft version of the Development Contribution (or planning levy) Guidelines have been published by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

Key features in the new guidance include:

• A requirement for planning authorities to put in place reduced rates of development  contributions or waivers for:
•  development in town centres to support town centre development;
•  change-of-use permissions, where change-of use does not lead to the need for new or     upgraded infrastructure / services;
•  businesses grant-aided or supported by IDA/Enterprise Ireland or other local authority or   state supported local development agencies, as well as reduced rates for developments that would progress the Government’s Jobs Initiative; Read the rest of this entry »