Vol. 466 No. 8
66 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for the Environment the representations, if any, made to him by committees to exercise his powers under section 22 of the Planning Act, 1963; and if so, the plans, if any, he has in this regard. [12370/96]
Section 22 empowers the Minister for the Environment to require the development plans of two or more planning authorities to be co-ordinated in a manner specified by him and to require a planning authority to vary its development plan in a manner specified by him.
The Minister has received representations advocating use of the power to vary development plans from the following committees or groups: Clane Community Council; environmental-town planning sub committee of Bolbrook Enterprise Centre, Tallaght; Johnstown Residents Association; Kildare Branch of ACRA; Kiltipper and Kiltalown Residents Associations, Tallaght; Leixlip Alliance; Palmerstown Community Council; Seabury and Environs Residents Association, Malahide; Strawberry Beds Residents Association; and Tallaght Community Council.
In most of these cases, the Minister has replied declining to use the section 22 powers. This is in line with the practice of previous Ministers, none of whom operated section 22 since the 1963 Planning Act came into operation. In effect, successive Ministers have been reluctant to alter the decisions of democratically elected councils regarding local land use matters which are, essentially, matters to be decided locally.
