Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 February 2014
482. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the extraction of gravel from rivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7819/14]
View answerSection 32(1)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that, subject to the other provisions of the Act, permission is required under Part III of the Act in respect of any development of land, not being exempted development. Section 3(1) of the Act defines development to mean, except where the context otherwise requires, the carrying out of any works on, in, over or under land or the making of any material change in the use of any structures or other land. Works involving the extraction of gravel from rivers, accordingly, require planning permission. Furthermore, the extraction of stone, gravel, sand or clay in the case of fluvial dredging (other than maintenance dredging), where the length of river involved would be greater than 500 metres, requires an applicant for consent to furnish an environmental impact statement to the planning authority or An Bord Pleanála, as the case may be.
However, section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, set out various exemptions from the requirement to obtain permission, subject, in many cases, to specific conditions. Class 3, Schedule 2, Part 3 of the 2001 Planning Regulations provides that minor works relating to the construction or maintenance of any gully, drain, pond, trough, pit or widening or deepening of watercourses, the removal of obstructions from watercourses and the making or repairing of embankments in connection with any of the foregoing works is exempted development. Development is generally not exempted from the requirement to obtain planning permission if it could require an environmental impact assessment, and, since the commencement of amendments to section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 on 21 September 2011, development is also not exempted from planning if it could require appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive.
The Regulations are kept under review and I will consider whether any further amendments or clarifications of existing provisions are required in this area.
