Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 25 Feb 1997

Vol. 475 No. 4

Written Answers. - Land Use Policy.

Kathleen Lynch

Question:

23 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment the progress, if any, made to date in formulating the promised national land use policy plan; if the plan will include designation of areas suitable for landfill sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4982/97]

Minister for the Environment (Mr. Howlin)

As I have indicated previously in the House, my Department is preparing a series of guidelines on land use policy issues for local planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála. Guidelines on telecommunications antennae and support structures and wind farm development have already been published. Draft consultation guidelines on forestry development were published and issued to a wide range of interested parties on 10 January last and comments were invited by 12 March. The guidelines, in final form, will issue as soon as possible thereafter when the comments received have been considered. Guidelines on high amenity landscapes and on the scope and content of development plans are being prepared.

Priorities for further land use planning guidelines are being considered in the context of the national sustainable development strategy which is currently in its final stage of preparation in the Department. Taken together, the strategy and the guidelines will provide a comprehensive policy framework for land use planning.

While it is not proposed, at present, to prepare planning guidelines specifically in relation to landfill sites, the Environmental Protection Agency are in the process of preparing a manual on landfill site selection in accordance with section 62 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. Also, under section 22 of the Waste Management Act, 1996, local authorities are obliged, as part of their waste management plans, to address the selection of sites for the recovery or disposal of waste.