Vol. 537 No. 3
59 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the steps which have been taken to ensure that local authorities maintain land reservations to accommodate the public transport provision outlined in the Dublin Transportation Office's report entitled Platform for Change. [15659/01]
Land is reserved for infrastructure development through the relevant planning authority development plans. Under section 10 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, each planning authority is required to include objectives in its development plan to secure the provision or the facilitation of the provision of infrastructure, including transport.
In addition, the strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area, which were published on 25 March 1999, set out an integrated land use and transportation framework for the sustainable development of the greater Dublin area, comprising the Dublin and mid-east regions. The strategy espoused in the guidelines explicitly seeks for, and facilitates, a better balance between public and private transport. Statutory recognition for the strategic planning guidelines is provided in the Planning and Development Act, 2000. The relevant provisions came into force on 1 January 2001 and require planning authorities in the area to have regard to the guidelines when making or adopting a development plan.
The DTO strategy entitled A Platform for Change, which updates the original DTI strategy and has a horizon to 2016, has been prepared to support and compliment the strategic land use planning and transportation framework described in the strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area.
