The current review of Irish planning laws “must ensure” that serial planning objectors cannot hold up farm infrastructure developments, according to one senator.
Tim Lombard, Fine Gael’s Seanad spokesperson on agriculture, food and the marine, said that the practice of persons repeatedly objecting to on-farm developments is “to the detriment of communities”.
Lombard said that the Planning and Development Bill – which is in the early stages of its progress through the Dáil – “must included strict criteria on parties that appeal projects that have been granted by local authorities, as the current system can lead to substantial delays on essential infrastructure being delivered”.
“There is abuse of the current planning and development code where we have serial objectors who lodge appeals to An Bord Pleanála after planning has been granted by the local authority.
“These serial objectors often live hundreds of miles away, outside the county, and even outside the province from where the original planning decision has been granted,” Lombard added.
The Co. Cork based senator said that this has occurred in his own area, where several agricultural development projects have been delayed due to parties appealing a local authority decision to An Bord Pleanála.
“Progress is further hampered when these objectors seek a judicial review of an [An Bord Pleanála] decision, with both state projects and private commercial developments becoming bogged down in a cumbersome and multi-faceted legal process which also puts significant strain on our courts service,” Lombard said.
According to Lombard, a “balance needs to be struck” in planning laws between people’s right to object to planning that will have an impact on them or their community, versus “these serial objectors”.
“One would have to question the agenda of these serial objectors lodging appeals from the opposite end of the country. People with no association or affiliation to an area are hampering development and livelihoods throughout the country with spurious objections to anything and everything,” he added.
He claimed that there had been one occasion in which a resident of Co. Dublin objected to an extension of a milking parlour in Co. Cork.
“We need robust legislation from the [Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien] to ensure the planning authority can view and act on these spurious objections so that unnecessary delays are removed from the process,” Lombard said.
He called for any future planning laws to include “strict criteria” for individuals or parties who may lodge an appeal, including proof that the project will impact them directly and their geographical location in the country.
“There should also be controls around the entity or agency who can lodge an appeal and timelines around the process, as we need to remove all obstacles to delivering the supply of homes and agricultural developments that are so badly needed in our growing society and economy,” the Fine Gael senator commented.