Vol. 572 No. 2
197 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government further to the reply to Question No. 1268 of 30 September, if he will outline the number of county development plans which have been adopted; and the number which have been sent back to the councils again in view of the fact his Department is dissatisfied with them. [22651/03]
201 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the way in which many planning authorities have sent notice and a copy of the draft development plan to his Department; the number of observations exactly on the draft development plans which issued from his Department, giving details for each planning authority; the number of development plans which have been adopted; the adopted plans to date; and the date they were adopted. [22740/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 and 201 together.
As many as 114 planning authorities have been adopting development plans on a rolling basis since the Planning and Development Act 1963 came into operation. Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, which repealed the 1963 Act, planning authorities are required to prepare a development plan every six years, and to send notice and a copy of the draft development plan to my Department.
Since Part 2 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 came into operation on 1 January 2001, copies of 43 draft development plans have been submitted to my Department. Observations in relation to 27 of those plans have issued to the relevant planning authorities. Among the issues covered in the observations were the following: consistency with the national spatial strategy, housing strategies, retail strategies, archaeological heritage, architectural heritage, nature conservation, rural settlement, landscape appraisal, amenities, environmental impact, zoning, and infrastructure.
My Department does not have details of the dates on which all of these plans were subsequently adopted.
