Special Housing 2017

Strategic Housing Developments

The “specified period”, which is defined to mean the period  until 31 December 2019 and any additional period that the Minister may provide by order

A “strategic housing development”, which is defined to mean, subject to specified limitations on the extent of other uses—

• the development of 100 or more houses on land zoned for residential use or for a mixture of residential and other uses,
• the development of student accommodation units which, when combined, contain 200 or more bed spaces, on land the zoning
  of which facilitates the provision of student accommodation or a mixture of student accommodation and other uses thereon, or
• the alteration of an existing planning permission of the above type

During the specified period (up to 31st December 2019), applications for permission for strategic housing developments shall be made direct to the Board (An Bórd Pleanála) and not to the local planning authority. Such application may be made only when the specified requirements have been fulfilled. The Minister may, by order, extend the specified period for a further period that shall not extend beyond 31 December 2021.

Pre-Application Consultation

A development in respect of which a request is made to the Board during the specified period for a pre-application consultation shall continue to be dealt with under this Part, notwithstanding the expiry of the specified period.

An application for permission for a strategic housing development within a strategic development zone may be made direct to the local planning authority, in which case the provision for an appeal applies to the Board against the authority’s decision.

There are provisions in relation to a request from a prospective applicant to enter into consultations with the Board in relation to a proposed strategic housing development. Prior to consulting the Board, the applicant must have at least one meeting with the local planning authority for the purpose of pre-application consultations. The consultation meeting must take place within four weeks of receipt of the consultation request, and allows for one or more extensions of that period in particular circumstances.

The information to be included in a consultation request to the Board, is specified including details of the prior consultation with the planning authority and, where the proposed strategic housing development would materially contravene the development plan or
local area plan, other than in relation to the zoning of the land, an indication as to why, in the prospective applicant’s opinion, permission should nonetheless be granted.

A specified fee must accompany the request. Additional may be prescribed to be included in a consultation request to the Board. A request shall be in both printed and in electronic form and the prospective applicant must send copies to the planning authority or authorities concerned, as well as to the Board.

Board Procedure

The Board must accept or refuse the consultation request within 2 weeks of receipt, based on whether the request complies, or does not comply, with the requirements. Where the Board refuses the request, it returns  request (giving reasons) and the fee to the
prospective applicant.

Where the Board accepts the request, it is required to notify the prospective applicant and the planning authority accordingly and the authority shall, within 2 weeks, submit to the Board (and send to the prospective applicant) copies of all records relating to its
prior section 247 consultation relating to the proposed development and the authority’s opinion on, among other things, the proposed development having regard to the provisions of the relevant development plan or local area plan.

The Board shall convene a consultation meeting within 4 weeks of receipt of the prospective applicant’s request, to be attended by the Board, the prospective applicant or his or her representative and planning authority officials with sufficient knowledge
and expertise in the matter concerned.

The  Board is required, within 3 weeks of the holding of the consultation meeting, to form an opinion as to whether the documents included in the consultation request constitute a reasonable basis for an application for permission for the proposed development, or require further consideration and amendment in order to constitute a reasonable basis for such an application.

The Board shall issue a notice accordingly to the prospective applicant and the planning authority and shall, in appropriate cases, set out in the notice its advice as to the issues that need to be addressed in the relevant documents that could result in them constituting a reasonable basis for an application for permission. On receipt of a notice,

a prospective applicant may proceed to apply for permission for the proposed development or seek a further re-application consultation with the Board.

Neither the holding of a pre-application consultation nor the forming of an opinion under the provisions shall prejudice the performance by the Board, or the planning authority of their functions under the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2016 or any
other enactment and cannot be relied upon in the formal planning process or in legal proceedings.

Consultation by Board

The Board may consult with any person who may have information that is relevant for the purposes of pre-application consultations relating to a proposed development and that the Board shall keep a record of its consultations under this section with the documents to which an application for permission in respect of that development relates.

Following the consultation meeting, a prospective applicant may request the Board to do either or both of the following:

• determine, and so inform him or her, if one or both of the following applies: – where the development is of a class prescribed, whether it is likely to have significant effects on the environment; – whether the development is likely to have a significant effect on a European site;
• give its opinion on what information will be required to be contained in either both an environmental and Natura impact statement in relation to the proposed development.

The Board shall consult any bodies prescribed by the Minister for the purpose and shall comply with a request within 8 weeks of receiving the request. A request  shall normally be made at the same time, in which case the Board shall deal with the request
within 8 weeks of receipt or  16 weeks of receipt, depending on the class of request made

The determination made, or opinion given, by the Board on foot of a request (and the main reasons for each) shall be kept with the documents relating to the planning application concerned.

Application for Permission

The 2016 Act sets out the detailed procedure for the making of an application for permission in respect of a proposed strategic housing development.  It specifies the information that must be included in a notice that a prospective applicant is required to have published in one or more local newspapers before making an application for permission to the Board. The information includes—

• the times and places and the period, not being less than 5 weeks, during which a copy of the application and any environmental or Natura impact statement, if such is required, may be inspected free of charge or purchased on payment of a specified fee,
• a statement that the application sets out how the proposal will be consistent with the objectives of the relevant development plan or local area plan, and, where the proposed development materially contravenes the said plan other than in relation to the zoning of the land, indicating why permission should, nonetheless, be granted,
• an invitation to the public and any person or body to make submissions and observations to the Board in the period during which the application, etc., may be inspected, and
• a statement that a person may question the validity of a decision of the Board by way of an application for judicial review and of where practical information on the review mechanism can be found.

The prospective applicant is also required, before applying for permission for the proposed development, to send a copy of the notice to the planning authority and any bodies prescribed by the Minister for the purpose. The prospective applicant must also notify the prescribed bodies that they can make submissions or observations to the Board concerning the proposed development in the period during which the application, etc., is open for public inspection.

Board Procedure

The Board may refuse to deal with an application made u where it considers that the application for permission, or the environmental or Natura impact statement, if such is required, is inadequate or incomplete, having regard to any relevant regulations under the Planning and Development Acts  or any pre-applications consultations  Where the Board refuses to deal with an
the application provides for the return of the application (giving reasons) and the fee to the applicant and for the Board to retain a printed or an electronic copy of the request.

The Board must  send copies of any submissions and observations to the planning authority according as the Board receives
them and provides that the planning authority shall, within 8 weeks of the authority’s receipt of a copy of the application, submit to the Board a report setting out—

• a summary of the points raised in the submissions and observations made,
• the authority’s views on the effects of that proposed development on the proper planning and sustainable development of the area of the authority and on the environment, and
• the authority’s opinion as to whether the proposed strategic housing development would be consistent with the relevant objectives of the development plan or local area plan, together with a statement as to whether the authority recommends that permission should be granted or refused, together with the reasons for its recommendation, and, in the case that the authority recommends that permission be refused, the planning conditions (and the reasons for them) that the authority would recommend in the event that the Board decides to grant permission.

In addition to the planning authority’s report the Board is empowered,  and in the case where the proposed development would have a significant effect on the area of a planning authority, to require the authority to furnish to the Board such information as the Board may specify in relation to the effects of the proposed strategic housing development on the proper planning and sustainable development of that area concerned and on the environment.

Considerations

Before making a decision, the Board shall consider—

• the proper planning and sustainable development of the area,
• any observations or submissions duly received, and
• any other relevant information, in so far as they relate to the likely consequences for proper planning and sustainable development in the area in which it is proposed to situate the development and the likely effects on the environment or the likely effects on a European site, as the case may be, of the proposed development, if carried out, and
• any environmental or Natura impact statement, where such is required, and
• any report or recommendation prepared for the Board in relation to the application under  the 2000 Act, including the report of
  the person conducting any oral hearing of the proposed development.

The Act sets down the matters, including any guidelines issued by the Minister under  the 2000 Act, to which the Board shall
have regard in considering the likely consequences for proper planning and  sustainable development in the area in which it is proposed to situate the strategic housing development.

The Board, when making a decision on an application, shall apply, where relevant, specific planning policy requirements of guidelines issued by the Minister, and that, where such requirements differ from the provisions of a development plan, then those requirements shall apply instead of the provisions of that plan.

Decision of Board

The Board may  grant permission, with or without modifications or in part only, or to refuse permission. The Board may also attach conditions to a grant of permission  and  set out matters to which such conditions could relate.

The  Board may refuse to grant permission for a proposed strategic housing development where it considers that development of the kind proposed would be premature by reference to the inadequacy or incompleteness of the environmental or Natura impact
statement submitted with the application for permission, if such is required, notwithstanding that the Board did not exercise its functions  to refuse to deal with that application.

The Board shall not grant permission where the proposed development, or a part of it, contravenes materially the development plan or local area plan relating to the area concerned, in relation to the zoning of the land. The Board may grant permission where a proposed development, or a part of it, contravenes materially the development plan or local area plan, other than in relation to the zoning of
the land, but only where at least one of the considerations in the Act  applies.

Time Limit and Publicity

The Board shall make its decision on an application for permission for a strategic housing development within 16 weeks of the lodging of the application or within such other period as the Minister may prescribe, where it appears to him or her to be necessary,
by virtue of exceptional circumstances, to do so. Where an oral hearing is held, the Board shall make its decision on the application within such period as the Minister may prescribe.

The Board may make its decision on an application at any time after the expiry of the period of 8 weeks from the receipt by a planning authority of a copy of the application for permission.

The Board shall include in its annual report to the Minister of its proceedings a statement of the number of matters that the Board has determined within each of the relevant periods and such other information as to the time taken to determine such matters as the Minister may direct.

Where the Board fails to make a decision in relation to an application within the period specified or prescribed and becomes
aware that it has so failed, the Board shall proceed to make the decision notwithstanding that the period has expired. Where the Board fails to make a decision within the relevant period, it shall pay to the applicant a sum equal to the lesser amount of €10,000 or 3 times the prescribed fee paid by the applicant in respect of his or her application for permission.

The Board shall send a copy of the decision to the applicant, the planning authority, and any person who made submissions or  observations on the application for permission. The Board shall have a notice published in one or more local newspapers informing the public of its decision, stating that a person may question the validity of a decision of the Board by way of an application for judicial review and indicating where practical information on the review mechanism can be found.

The decision shall state the main reason and considerations on which the decision was based and the main reasons for imposing any conditions imposed, if the permission was granted.

Administrative

The enforcement provisions in Part VIII of the 2000 Act apply to a strategic housing development that is carried out otherwise than in compliance with a permission  or any  condition to which the permission is subject. A person shall not be entitled solely by reason of a permission above to carry out any development.

A new Strategic Housing Division within the Board was established under the Act comprising 4 Board members to deal with decisions on all strategic housing development applications received under this Part of the Bill.

There is  provision for the appointment of the Chairperson and members of the Division, other matters of procedure for the Division and for dissolution of the Division at the appropriate time following the expiry of the specified period applying to this Part.

The Minister may  make Regulations providing for procedural and administrative matters relating to the procdure including the erection or fixing of a site notice concerning an application for permission and the making of submissions or observations
to the Board in relation to applications for permission.

Before deciding to hold an oral hearing for an application for permission for a strategic housing development, the Board shall have
regard to the exceptional circumstances requiring the urgent delivery of housing as set out in the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, and shall only hold an oral hearing if it decides, having regard to the particular circumstances of the application, that there is a compelling case for such a hearing;

The Board may determine, with the Minister’s approval, fees for—
– an application for permission for a strategic housing development,
– a request for a pre-application consultation,
– a request for a written opinion on the information to be contained in an environmental impact statement relating to a strategic
housing development, and
– a submission or observations on an application for permission for a strategic housing development.