Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 February 2015
138. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Question No. 621 of 18 December 2014, if her Department is now in a position to publish the finalised national landscape strategy; the expected timeframe towards implementation of the strategy; if it remains her opinion that no legislative changes will be required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5506/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis relates to the national landscape strategy, a draft of which was produced in July of last year and which was opened to submissions until 18 September. When will the finalised landscape strategy be published?
As I outlined in my reply to the Deputy's Question No. 621 of 18 December 2014, a draft national landscape strategy for Ireland 2015-2025 was approved by Government on 1 July last and subsequently screened for strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment. I expect to publish the national landscape strategy early this year. It remains my view that no legislation will be required at this stage to give effect to the objectives and actions of the strategy. Implementation will take place on a phased basis over the ten-year lifetime of the strategy.
Were issues such as for example, wind farms, considered in the context of the landscape strategy?
Will new measures need to be put in place to include communities? That dovetails with the Aarhus Convention, which requires meaningful engagement with communities when something is planned for an area. It is clear that it cannot just be a box-ticking exercise. It must be meaningful. In the first instance, when drawing up a landscape strategy it would be very important to know the right places and the wrong places to put things. I welcome the publication of the strategy early this year.
The strategy is the first step to meeting our obligations under the European Landscape Convention adopted in 2000 and ratified by Ireland in 2002. The definition of landscape drawn up by the European Landscape Convention reflects the concept that landscapes evolve through time as a result of being acted upon by natural and human forces. It also underlines the fact that the landscape is composed of various elements that have to be taken together and not in isolation. The core objective of the strategy is to allow for the sustainable management of change and it is not about the freezing of the landscape at a particular point in its continuing evolution.
There are six core objectives derived from the European Landscape Convention: to recognise landscapes in law; to develop a national landscape character assessment; to develop landscape policies; to increase landscape awareness; to identify education and training needs; and to strengthen public participation. The strategy contains 19 related actions, one on implementation, four relating to planning, five dealing with public awareness and the remaining actions are related to education, training and research.
In response to the Deputy's question on the development of energy, transport or other infrastructure, the strategy is a policy framework which will inform and assist in the resolution of challenges arising from competing priorities when dealing with the landscape. A national landscape character assessment will be a critical first step in mapping the character and diversity of Ireland's landscapes, which will ensure a consistency of approach to landscapes at local planning authority and agency levels, in particular for neighbouring planning authorities sharing the same landscape and agencies whose functions affect the character of many landscapes.
