Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015
572. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the obligations on local authorities to ensure that developers meet all future taking-in-charge requirements when developing new housing estates; the rights housing estates have when it comes to being taken in charge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9206/15]
View answerMy Department’s Circular Letter PD 1/08 on Taking in Charge of Residential Developments/Management Arrangements which issued in February 2008 sets out the policy to be adopted by planning authorities in relation to the taking in charge of housing estates. Paragraph 3.4 of the Annex to the Circular refers to the early identification of the areas to be taken in charge and states that:
Authorities must address the taking in charge issue at pre-application consultation stage, when the type of residential development and the standards proposed can be discussed. Applications for residential development should delineate the area that would, in accordance with this document, potentially fall to be taken in charge on the site layout map. It is envisaged that, generally, certain core services will always be taken in charge (see section 2.1) and planning authorities must ensure that the design of the approved development will facilitate this by separating the areas/facilities that will be taken in charge from those that will not. Sewers and water mains should not be located under landscaping or allocated parking area that will not be taken in charge.
Paragraph 3.5 of the Annex sets out appropriate planning conditions that should be attached to permissions for residential developments including conditions for -
- the giving of adequate financial security (section 34(4)(g)) and the length of time the security must remain in place;
- the facilitation of inspections by the planning authority;
- the phasing of the development, if appropriate (S.34(4)(h));
- the completion of the development in accordance with specified standards;
- the evidence to be produced by the developer to demonstrate that the residential development has been completed to the appropriate standards (see section 4.2) and the time period for the production of such evidence.
Paragraph 3.6 deals with inspection of construction and states -
Ensuring that residential developments are completed in accordance with the planning permission is an essential part of a comprehensive taking in charge policy. It is important that the construction of the development be regularly inspected by the planning authority to ensure satisfactory completion in accordance with the permission. It is also necessary for the planning authority to satisfy itself, when the developer has ceased construction or notified the planning authority that construction is complete, or after the planning permission has expired, that the development is properly completed in line with the planning permission and, where it is not properly completed, to take early and effective enforcement action.
Circular Letter PD 1/08 was incorporated into my Department’s Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas which were issued to planning authorities in February 2008. These Guidelines were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and accordingly, planning authorities are statutorily required to have regard to them in the performance of their functions under the Act.
In relation to enforcement action, the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, places clear statutory obligations on planning authorities in relation to unauthorised development. Where a planning authority receives a written complaint regarding an unauthorised development, or otherwise becomes aware of unauthorised development (except in the case of trivial or minor development), it is required to issue a warning letter in relation to the unauthorised development concerned.
In addition, planning authorities are statutorily obliged to carry out an investigation and expeditiously decide whether an enforcement notice should be issued or a court order should be sought, under section 160 of the 2000 Act. Where a planning authority establishes, following an investigation, that unauthorised development (other than development that is of a trivial or minor nature) has been or is being carried out, and the person who has carried out the development has not proceeded to remedy the position, then the planning authority must issue an enforcement notice or seek a court order, unless there are compelling reasons for not doing so. Furthermore, the planning authority’s decision on whether to issue an enforcement notice must be entered on the planning register and, in cases where it is decided not to issue an enforcement notice, any complainant must be so informed.
Section 180 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 provides, in relation to estates which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the permission, that the planning authority must if requested to do so by the developer or by the majority of the owners of the houses involved, initiate the procedures for taking the estate in charge.
In relation to estates which have not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority and enforcement proceedings have not been commenced within seven years of the expiration of the relevant permission, section 180 also provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the majority of the owners, initiate the taking in charge procedures.
My Department is currently reviewing, in the context of the forthcoming Planning and Development (No. 2) Bill, the section 180 provisions relating to the taking in charge of housing estates with a view to improving and streamlining the relevant procedures. A particular focus of this review will be the time limits for the taking in charge of housing estates. My Department will consult with planning authorities in this regard.
