Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1.. Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010.

(2) The Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2009 and this Act (other than Part 3) may be cited together as the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2010 and shall be read together as one.

(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

2.. Definitions.

2.— In this Act—

“Act of 2001” means the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001;

“Act of 2002” means the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2002;

“Act of 2006” means the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006;

“Act of 2008” means the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008;

“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government;

“Principal Act” means the Planning and Development Act 2000.

PART 2 Amendment of Principal Act

3.. Legal acts of the European Union given effect to by this Act.

3.— The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following new section after section 1:

“1A.— Effect or further effect, as the case may be, is given by this Act to an act specified in the Table to this section, adopted by an institution of the European Union or, where appropriate, to part of such an act.

TABLE

Council Directive 75/440 EEC of 16 June 1975 ^1 concerning the quality required of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States

Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 ^2 on the conservation of wild birds

Environmental Impact Assessment Directive

Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 ^3 concerning urban waste-water treatment

Habitats Directive

Major Accidents Directive

Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 ^4 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy

Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 ^5 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment

Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 ^6 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EC

Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 ^7 providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC

Directive 2006/11/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 February 2006 ^8 on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community

Birds Directive”.

4.. Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act.

4.— Section 2(1) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the deletion of the definition of “Council Directive”;

(b) by the substitution of—

(i) the following for the definition of “the Birds Directive”:

“ ‘Birds Directive’ means Directive 2009/147/EC ^9 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds;”,

(ii) the following for the definition of “European Site”:

“ ‘European site’ has the meaning given to it by section 177R of Part XAB;”,

(iii) the following for the definition of “Habitats Directive”:

“ ‘Habitats Directive’ means Council Directive 92/43/EEC ^10 of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, amended by Corrigendum to Council Directive 92/43/EEC ^11 of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora amended by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded ^12; Council Directive 97/62/EC ^13 of 27 October 1997 adapting to technical and scientific progress Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora; Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded ^14, and Council Directive 2006/105/EC ^15 of 20 November 2006 adapting Directives 73/239/EEC, 74/557/EEC and 2002/83/EC in the field of environment, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania;”,

(iv) the following for the definition of “Major Accidents Directive”:

“ ‘Major Accidents Directive’ means Council Directive 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996 ^16 amended by Directive 2003/105/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 16 December 2003 ^17;”,

(v) the following for the definition of “planning application”:

“ ‘planning application’ means an application to a planning authority, or the Board, as the case may be, in accordance with permission regulations for permission for the development of land required by those regulations;”;

(c) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘Act of 2001’ means the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001;

‘Act of 2006’ means the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act 2006;

‘Act of 2007’ means the Water Services Act 2007;

‘Act of 2008’ means the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008;

‘Act of 2010’ means the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010;

‘adaptation to climate change’ means the taking of measures to manage the impacts of climate change;

‘allotment’ means an area of land comprising not more than 1,000 square metres let or available for letting to and cultivation by one or more than one person who is a member of the local community and lives adjacent or near to the allotment, for the purpose of the production of vegetables or fruit mainly for consumption by the person or a member of his or her family;

‘anthropogenic’ in relation to greenhouse gas emissions means those emissions that result from or are produced by human activity or intervention;

‘appropriate assessment’ shall be construed in accordance with section 177R;

‘core strategy’ shall be construed in accordance with section 10 (inserted by section 7 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010);

‘electronic form’ means information that is generated, communicated, processed, sent, received, recorded, stored or displayed by electronic means and is capable of being used to make a legible copy or reproduction of that communicated information but does not include information communicated in the form of speech and such electronic means includes electrical, digital, magnetic, optical electro-magnetic, biometric, photonic and any other form of related technology;

‘environmental impact assessment’ has the meaning given to it by section 171A;

‘Environmental Impact Assessment Directive’ means Council Directive No. 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 ^18 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 ^19, Directive 2003/35/EC ^20 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 and Directive 2009/31/EC ^21 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009;

‘flood risk assessment’ means an assessment of the likelihood of flooding, the potential consequences arising and measures, if any, necessary to manage those consequences;

‘housing strategy’ means a strategy included in a development plan under section 94;

‘landscape’ has the same meaning as it has in Article 1 of the European Landscape Convention done at Florence on 20 October 2000;

‘Natura 2000 network’ has the meaning assigned to it by Article 3, paragraph 1 of the Habitats Directive;

‘Natura impact statement’ shall be construed in accordance with section 177T;

‘Natura impact report’ shall be construed in accordance with section 177T;

‘service connection’ has the meaning given to it by section 2 of the Act of 2007;

‘settlement hierarchy’ has the meaning given to it by section 10(2C) (inserted by section 7 of the Act of 2010);

‘strategic development zone’ has the meaning given to it by section 165;

‘strategic environmental assessment’ means an assessment carried out in accordance with regulations made under section 10(5), 13(12), 19(4), 23(3), or 168(3) as the case may be;

‘substitute consent’ has the meaning given to it by section 177A;”.

5.. Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act.

5.— F1[…]

6.. Amendment of section 7 of Principal Act.

6.— Section 7(2) of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) particulars of any application made to it under this Act for permission for development, for retention of development, for substitute consent including for leave to apply for substitute consent, or for outline permission for development (including the name and address of the applicant, the date of receipt of the application and brief particulars of the development or retention forming the subject of the application),”,

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (b):

“(b) where an environmental impact statement, remedial environmental impact statement, Natura impact statement or remedial Natura impact statement was submitted in respect of an application, an indication of this fact,

(bb) where applicable, the outcome of—

(i) a determination as to whether an environmental impact assessment is required, or

(ii) screening for appropriate assessment,”,

(c) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (s):

“(sa) particulars of any enforcement notice issued under section 177O;”,

(d) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (x):

“(xa) particulars of any notice given under section 177B, decision of the Board under section 177D, or 177K, or direction served under section 177J or 177L,”.

7.. Amendment of section 10 of Principal Act.

7.— Section 10 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1):

“(1A) The written statement referred to in subsection (1) shall include a core strategy which shows that the development objectives in the development plan are consistent, as far as practicable, with national and regional development objectives set out in the National Spatial Strategy and regional planning guidelines.

(1B) A planning authority shall prepare a core strategy, other than where subsection (1C) applies, as soon as practicable and in any event not later than a period of one year after the making of regional planning guidelines under Chapter III which affect the area of the development plan, and shall accordingly vary the development plan under section 13 to include the core strategy.

(1C) Where a period of more than 4 years has expired since the making of the development plan when regional planning guidelines under Chapter III which affect the area of the development plan are made, the planning authority shall prepare a core strategy for inclusion in the new development plan under section 11 and 12.

(1D) The written statement referred to in subsection (1) shall also include a separate statement which shows that the development objectives in the development plan are consistent, as far as practicable, with the conservation and protection of the environment.”,

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (c):

“(ca) the encouragement, pursuant to Article 10 of the Habitats Directive, of the management of features of the landscape, such as traditional field boundaries, important for the ecological coherence of the Natura 2000 network and essential for the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of wild species;

(cb) the promotion of compliance with environmental standards and objectives established—

(i) for bodies of surface water, by the European Communities (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009;

(ii) for groundwater, by the European Communities (Groundwater) Regulations 2010;

which standards and objectives are included in river basin management plans (within the meaning of Regulation 13 of the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003);”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraphs (l) and (m):

“(l) the provision, or facilitation of the provision, of services for the community including, in particular, schools, crèches and other education and childcare facilities;

(m) the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the promotion of Irish as the community language, where there is a Gaeltacht area in the area of the development plan;

(n) the promotion of sustainable settlement and transportation strategies in urban and rural areas including the promotion of measures to—

(i) reduce energy demand in response to the likelihood of increases in energy and other costs due to long-term decline in non-renewable resources,

(ii) reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and

(iii) address the necessity of adaptation to climate change;

in particular, having regard to location, layout and design of new development;

(o) the preservation of public rights of way which give access to seashore, mountain, lakeshore, riverbank or other place of natural beauty or recreational utility, which public rights of way shall be identified both by marking them on at least one of the maps forming part of the development plan and by indicating their location on a list appended to the development plan, and

(p) landscape, in accordance with relevant policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government relating to providing a framework for identification, assessment, protection, management and planning of landscapes and developed having regard to the European Landscape Convention done at Florence on 20 October 2000.”,

(c) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (2):

“(2A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1A), a core strategy shall—

(a) provide relevant information to show that the development plan and the housing strategy are consistent with the National Spatial Strategy and regional planning guidelines,

(b) take account of any policies of the Minister in relation to national and regional population targets,

(c) in respect of the area in the development plan already zoned for residential use or a mixture of residential and other uses, provide details of—

(i) the size of the area in hectares, and

(ii) the proposed number of housing units to be included in the area,

(d) in respect of the area in the development plan proposed to be zoned for residential use or a mixture of residential and other uses, provide details of—

(i) the size of the area in hectares,

(ii) how the zoning proposals accord with national policy that development of land shall take place on a phased basis,

(e) provide relevant information to show that, in setting out objectives regarding retail development contained in the development plan, the planning authority has had regard to any guidelines that relate to retail development issued by the Minister under section 28,

(f) in respect of the area of the development plan of a county council, set out a settlement hierarchy and provide details of—

(i) whether a city or town referred to in the hierarchy is designated as a gateway or hub for the purposes of the National Spatial Strategy,

(ii) other towns referred to in the hierarchy,

(iii) any policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government in relation to national and regional population targets that apply to towns and cities referred to in the hierarchy,

(iv) any policies or objectives for the time being of the Government or any Minister of the Government in relation to national and regional population targets that apply to the areas or classes of areas not included in the hierarchy,

(v) projected population growth of cities and towns in the hierarchy,

(vi) aggregate projected population, other than population referred to in subparagraph (v), in—

(I) villages and smaller towns with a population of under 1,500 persons, and

(II) open countryside outside of villages and towns,

(vii) relevant roads that have been classified as national primary or secondary roads under section 10 of the Roads Act 1993 and relevant regional and local roads within the meaning of section 2 of that Act,

(viii) relevant inter-urban and commuter rail routes, and

(ix) where appropriate, rural areas in respect of which planning guidelines relating to sustainable rural housing issued by the Minister under section 28 apply,

(g) in respect of the development plan of a city or a town council, provide details of—

(i) the city or town centre concerned,

(ii) the areas designated for significant development during the period of the development plan, particularly areas for which it is intended to prepare a local area plan,

(iii) the availability of public transport within the catchment of residential or commercial development, and

(iv) retail centres in that city or town centre.

(2B) The information referred to in subparagraphs (vii) to (ix) of paragraph (f) and in paragraph (g) shall also be represented in the core strategy by a diagrammatic map or other such visual representation.

(2C) In subsection (2A)(f) ‘ settlement hierarchy ’ means a rank given by a planning authority to a city or town in the area of its development plan, with a population that exceeded 1,500 persons in the census of population most recently published before the making by the planning authority of the hierarchy, and given on the basis of—

(a) its designation as a gateway city or town or as a hub town, as the case may be, under the National Spatial Strategy,

(b) the assessment by the planning authority of—

(i) the proposed function and role of the city or town, which assessment shall be consistent with any regional planning guidelines in force, and