This is a simple Bill which I welcome for two reasons. First, it aims to help overcome what has become one of the many bottlenecks in planning. Second, it gives us an opportunity to say something about the whole planning process.
It is my firm belief that Ireland's planning process is at a crossroads at present. Scandals, rumours of scandals, inconsistent decisions, delays in issuing planning decisions, delays in handling appeals, irrational and sometimes completely inexplicable decisions added to the poor completion of estates and failures to deal with non-compliant builders all contribute to a lack of public confidence in the planning process which I suggest is now escalating to the point where there is something of a crisis of confidence in planning. I welcome the proposals in the Bill as they will help to remove a bottleneck in An Bord Pleanála. It is to be hoped that they will provide a degree of flexibility in that regard. However, it is my belief that we must go much further than this Bill if we are to address the already evident and abundant problems in planning. What we need at this stage is a root and branch overhaul and examination of the entire planning process, including how it is controlled and how it operates.
The health of the economy and the related boom in the building industry are very welcome. Irish builders have been through a long dry period where they had to lay off staff, where some very respectable companies went out of business and where margins were very thin. I welcome the change which has come about. It is about time they had better prospects. The boom times bring their own challenges, not just for builders but also for planners, house buyers and the community in general. In this debate we are discussing the problems in planning. The Bill aims to assist An Bord Pleanála with its work and that is very welcome. There are other planning pressures which are very evident, especially in the major urban areas and they also need the attention of the Minister and the Department.
The upturn in building and development has placed a strain on planning departments in councils. Every Member could point to a problem in some planning department within their constituencies. The strain has four obvious manifestations. First and most obvious is the delay in processing planning applications at local authority level. Second is the very serious delays which are now beginning to occur in the production of development plans in the urban and county areas. The third major problem concerns the controlling of development, with the result that there has been a regrettable re-emergence of a range of rogue developers who are now causing major problems, especially for young home owners. The fourth problem has been the extraordinary escalation in development charges in a number of councils. There is a need to investigate some of these charges because it is evident that some local authorities are using development charges as a form of tax to bring in general revenue not necessarily associated with the developments in question.
Delays in dealing with planning applications are becoming a major problem in all areas, but particularly so in major urban areas. This is most evident in the case of Dublin and the surrounding counties. As a result of the near chaos in planning in some areas, a second factor has entered the picture: the rise in litigation and judicial reviews relating to planning. Judicial reviews have now become a major feature of the Irish planning process. In County Wicklow, for example, the county council had an increase in excess of 20 per cent in planning applications in 1997 over 1996, which itself was up 10 per cent on the previous year. The council has also been involved in a number of spectacular judicial reviews, some of which would not have occurred if the council had adopted a less confrontational approach to some of the planning activities before it. The huge cost of reviews and the rise in planning applications has resulted in crisis management. Planning applications are long-fingered as a matter of routine. Council staff increasingly resort to last minute decisions, some of which are ill-considered, or alternatively, put back the evil day on which they must make a decision by requesting further information. All this has had its impact on public confidence.
Public confidence has been further undermined by the delays in producing development plans. The excuse and explanation, which is reasonable, is that councils simply do not have the staff to produce them. Many councils are operating on plans which we know to be out of date which in itself is causing major difficulties. It means ad hoc approaches must be adopted, especially in areas where planning pressures are at their greatest. There have been recent first hand examples of the consequence of this in County Wicklow. For example, the new zoning of Blessington was agreed by the council in the teeth of huge opposition from the public and me and a number of other councillors. This resistance was not mere NIMBYism but was from people who wished to protect a unique environment. The irony of the Glen Ding case is that a landowner who attempted to build a house for a son or daughter on the hills concerned would have properly been refused permission. The same council has carried out a complete and inexcusable turnabout on its previous position and has given permission to remove the hills.
A number of Wicklow councillors have added insult to injury by rezoning a significant amount of land in the vicinity of Blessington's industrial estate for further housing. This was done despite housing staff advice that it was unnecessary. This was dealt with in a fine judgment last week in the High Court. However, it does not help to build public confidence in the planning process.
The third problem is the major failure in planning control. This is adding to the erosion of public confidence yet it is on the increase and requires urgent attention. Regrettably, we are seeing the re-emergence of that most unwelcome phenomenon — the rogue builder. The tragedy is that the few bad apples in the building industry are causing problems for communities, new house buyers and decent builders who wish to comply with regulations and try to give good value for money. These decent builders are being tarred with the same brush. This problem undermines public confidence. It is creating additional problems for councils who do not have the staff to ensure that builders meet every detail of the planning conditions. A major part of the problem is that councils are not capable of implementing any kind of inspection of developments. Too frequently, councils lack staff. In some cases there is also a question mark over their willingness to take on the big issue of compliance.
The situation is dreadfully unjust, not only for people who buy the houses and buildings and have to live work in them. It is also unfair on decent builders who try to comply with the conditions and meet all the costs of development while others get away with cutting corners and leaving the costs to be met by someone else — local taxpayers and local authorities which are already strapped for cash. When estates are not finished properly, or where major problems emerge three or four years after an estate is handed over, the local authority has to add to such bonds and securities which exist to carry out the work which should have been done in the first instance by the developers. Regrettably, there are more than sufficient case studies on this problem in County Wicklow.
The most exasperating aspect of this problem is the number of times that the same rogue builders appear on the list of problem makers. Last month I wrote a letter to the county manager accompanied by seven pages of complaints concerning a well-highlighted estate in Wicklow town. I also sent a letter with a further four pages of complaints to the same council about another estate in the same town built by the same builder. Yesterday I wrote a letter to the council and to Homebond regarding a third estate in the same town by the same builder. How is this allowed to happen? Home owners on these estates and those who care about good development are asking how it is that builders with a history of leaving devastation behind them are given planning permission. It is ludicrous.
In one estate in Wicklow town 15 people who occupied brand new houses in the last 12 months are contemplating legal action. This is grotesquely unfair. It is particularly unfair when other estates are being built in the same area by builders who are scrupulously attempting to meet the terms and responsibilities of their planning permission. It is unfair to a council which is grossly understaffed. We do not have the personnel to carry out the scrupulous inspection which is needed. This is a serious issue, not just for the Minister and local authorities, but for bodies such as the Construction Industry Federation. The CIF, Homebond and other professional bodies must have an interest in becoming pro-active in ensuring that home buyers get value for money and that estates are not left unfinished by rogue builders in a way which brings the entire industry into disrepute. The Minister should examine this matter. He should bar those with a bad record from being allowed to increment that bad record by further irresponsible development in other estates.
Development charges is the final issue which is causing grave concern in my area and others. It is important that when a development goes ahead the economic costs are not transferred to general taxation or to the local authority. There is evidence that a number of local authorities are escalating development charges to the point where they are funding other council activities which should be funded by introducing substantial taxes on home ownership. I mentioned the case of land which was imprudently rezoned last year in Blessington town. Wicklow County Council subsequently gave planning permission for an estate on that land but placed a development cost of £6,700 on each house being built. This charge is against the future development costs of the town. It is a substantial level of taxation. If the Minister for Finance had announced in his December budget that he was going to place a tax of £6,000 — £7,000 on every new house being built he would not have lasted the day. If he had not been dealt with by the Opposition he would have been lynched by his own side.
A ludicrous situation has developed in recent weeks in that Wicklow County Council has given three individuals in Greystones town individual planning permission to build in gardens of existing houses. However, the council added development charges of £6,700 where there was no justifiable argument for such large development costs. This makes it impossible for young couples to house themselves, forcing them on to local authority housing lists which are already problematic. This must be examined.
It is also ludicrous that a huge development will take place in Greystones where everyone knows that there are no facilities. The roads cannot accommodate the additional population. The council is resolving this problem by placing development charges of approximately £7,000 on each house. This is with a view to creating a fund to build roads. This is the antithesis of good planning. We need to put in place plans for the infrastructure before people are allowed in. Putting in the population in the hope that one might get the money for the infrastructure in the long term is not the way forward.
This is welcome legislation. The Minister is making prudent provision to improve matters in An Bord Pleanála. However, there is a disquieting abundance of evidence that the planning system is in chaos. It is very fine to stand in the House and describe the problems. However, it is incumbent upon us to prescribe some remedies. For example, on the issue of repeated rogue development, there is an unanswerable case for looking at the planning law to find a way of disbarring people who have continually failed to meet their responsibilities, whether in the guise of corporate structures or as individuals. I wish to see the planning laws punishing the rogues. The vast majority of builders I have dealt with are decent people who try to do their best. However, the industry is being brought into disrepute by a handful of rogues who, because they can undercut and move from place to place, are making big profits and passing on the costs of their behaviour to young couples, communities, councils who cannot afford it, and ultimately the national taxpayer. The second measure I would like to see at an early stage is an investigation into the impact on planning staff, particularly in the areas which are growing most rapidly. It is important to keep a tight rein on the growth of public service numbers, but something must be done to alleviate the problems of councils, such as Wicklow County Council and Bray Urban District Council, where there is a burgeoning of pressure.
Special funding arrangements will have to be put in place to create the necessary infrastructure to support present as well as additional future populations in the greater Dublin area and in other urban areas. The population of towns such as Greystones doubled and trebled in size in the 1970s and 1980s but there was no investment in roads. It is extraordinary that the population of Greystones grew from under 4,000 in 1971 to approximately 11,000 at present while in the same period Wicklow County Council had funds to build only 12 feet of roadway. The remainder was either done by private developers or was left to fall into chaos.
The Minister recently announced the welcome addition of £15 million to provide support for councils which wish to bring onstream land otherwise incapable of development. I would like to see an extension of that fund and its tailoring for areas where there are additional pressures. This does not only concern the east coast. The Minister of State will be aware of the situation in the vicinity of Galway where there has been a welcome expansion of good quality development.
The problems I have outlined are not unique to County Wicklow, but are to be found in every constituency and planning area in the country. The problems need to be addressed as soon as possible because we will all suffer if the public lose further confidence in the planning process. The signs of erosion are already present and this and other measures which the Minister will hopefully bring forward will address the problem.
