The new provisions under section 179A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act) were commenced on 8 March 2023 and provided an exemption, subject to certain criteria, for local authorities from the local authority own development approval process under section 179 of the Act. Section 179A of the Act also specifies exempted development status for the provision of specified forms of housing developments on designated State land built in accordance with section 179A of the Act and its supporting regulations. All other forms of local authority own development proposals are still required to undergo the normal Part 8 process under section 179 of the Act for approval or otherwise by the elected members.
The legislative provisions under section 179A relate to housing developments and do not distinguish between different types of housing developments such as traveller accommodation. It is a matter for each local authority to propose and progress housing developments in accordance with section 179A of the Act and these developments must be commenced prior to 31 December 2024 in accordance with section 179A(1)(g) of the Act. Where a proposed housing development would commence after 31 December 2024, the local authority must avail of the process prescribed under section 179 of the Act , commonly referred to as the ‘Part 8’ local authority own development approval process.
Under the recently inserted article 39A(1) of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, local authorities are required to report to my Department on a quarterly basis on the use of section 179A of the Act. Article 39A(1) specifies that the information provided must include the number of proposed housing developments availing of the Part 8 exemption, the number of commenced housing developments and the number of completed housing developments, also indicating the number of housing units under each category.
In addition article 39A(2) provides that upon request, local authorities shall provide information on the number of sites available within their functional area for the provision of houses under Section 179A of the Act, the location of the sites available and the number of houses that can be accommodated at each site.
As mentioned, the legislation does not specify the type of housing development and my Department does not compile the information sought on the specific programme that local authorities may be considering under section 179A of the Act. The information regarding proposed traveller accommodation developments should be sought directly from each local authority.
Where a local authority is progressing a housing development either through the use of sections 179 or 179A of the Act, I, in my role as Minister with responsibility for planning shall not - in accordance with section 30 of the Act - exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the Board is or may be concerned.
