Also there might even be some beers afterwards….! Hopefully see you there!

As always!

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Do you like what you have just read? Maybe you are interested in being a guest writer too. Email me at colinb@dt106ers.com

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The planning amendments bill of 2009 has finally got through the houses, thank you green party folk! However will some of the new procedures particularly related to the preparation of Development Plans, will it help or hinder the public in our participation? In a press release the Irish Planning Institute seem to think so: PLANNING BILL AMENDMENTS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY SAY PLANNERS

If you feel up to reading the actually wording of the Bill you can view them here on this page:  Oireachtas.ie – Planning Amendments Bill 2009

Land zoned for housing to fall by 70%, says Minister

THE 40,000 hectares of land zoned for residential development across the country will be reduced to 12,000 hectares over six years, Minister of State for planning Ciarán Cuffe said.

Mr Cuffe was speaking after the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill passed its final stage in the Seanad yesterday by 27 votes to 20.

He said the enactment of new planning laws would ensure that the right types of development were built in the right places at the right time.

“While there are around 40,000 hectares of land currently zoned for residential development across the country, the actual needs, even allowing for generous head room, over the next six years is for about 12,000 hectares,” he said

“The provisions in the new legislation are designed to address this excess to deliver more compact, walkable and integrated communities with the necessary infrastructure and services.”

Under the legislation, local authorities will be required to review development plans and ensure correct levels of land are available for residential development. Staff at the Department of the Environment will begin work this summer on implementing the new measures.

“At the heart of these new planning laws is a simple idea and that is to put the interests of our citizens ahead of any one interest group, be they property developers or landowners,” said Mr Cuffe.

He said over-zoning and bad planning had played a large role in creating the so-called property bubble, adding: “This legislation aims to ensure that these practices become a thing of the past.”

In a tweet, Mr Cuffe’s party colleague Senator Dan Boyle described the legislation as the “most significant piece of Green legislation in this session”.

Earlier this year, some Fianna Fáil backbenchers expressed concerns about elements of the legislation, but Carlow-Kilkenny TD Bobby Aylward last night said he had received assurances it would “have no adverse effect”.

Fianna Fáil Senator Brian O’Domhnaill said he welcomed a provision in the legislation “that allows for a further extension of five years to live planning permission applications”.

He said this would provide “breathing space” for people who had achieved planning permission but, perhaps for financial reasons, were not yet in a position to start building their homes.

IrishTimes

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PLANNING Minister Ciaran Cuffe has blamed city and county managers for approving plans that have left hundreds of ‘ghost’ estates dotted around the country.

In his first public speech since being appointed to office last month, Mr Cuffe also confirmed that NAMA would demolish unfinished homes in exceptional circumstances — but that the bill would be picked up by the developer.

Speaking at the Irish Planning Institute’s (IPI) national conference in Tullamore, the junior minister said theDepartment of the Environment would co

Minister of State, Ciaran Cuffe

mplete a count of vacant properties by the end of the summer, which would show the extent of the problem.

Estimates of the number of empty houses and apartments range from 301,682 to 352,414.

Zoning

But the ultimate responsibility for the planning mess rested with local authority managers, the minister said.

“The decision to grant or refuse permission comes down to the manager. They have to sign off on the developments and I intend to meet with the City and County Managers Associationto discuss this issue.

“During the Celtic Tiger years, there was too much of a rush to develop. We’re in a very different place now,” he said.

“There will be isolated cases where there are health and safety issues, where there’s inappropriate development in absolutely the wrong areas. The best way to deal with it may be to get rid of it.

“Fundamentally, it will be the responsibility of those who own the properties, many of which will come into the possession of NAMA.”

Councils have also zoned too much development land. Last October, the Irish Independent revealed that there was enough land zoned to build more than a million homes.

IPI president Gerry Sheeran said the advice of local-authority planners was “often ignored” and that the “victims” of such decisions were the people “living in unfinished housing estates or on land zoned on flood plains”.

Such is the excess of supply that receivers are selling homes at fire-sale prices, notably inLongford and Mullingar.

But Leitrim County Council’s planning officer, Ciaran Tracey, said the 1,000 vacant units in the county could be assets to help attract inward investment.

He said: “In Leitrim, we look at houses as an asset which will help us to attract jobs.”

- Paul Melia

Irish Independent

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The Republic’s Planning Minister Ciaran Cuffe has blamed city and county managers for approving plans that have left hundreds of ‘ghost’ estates dotted around the country.

In his first public speech since being appointed to office last month, Mr Cuffe also confirmed the Republic’s ‘bad bank’ NAMA would demolish unfinished homes in exceptional circumstances — but that the bill would be picked up by the developer.

Minister of State, Ciaran Cuffe

Speaking at the Irish Planning Institute’s (IPI) national conference in Tullamore, Co Waterford, the junior minister said the Department of the Environment would complete a count of vacant properties by the end of the summer, which would show the extent of the problem.

Estimates of the number of empty houses and apartments range from 301,682 to 352,414.

But the responsibility for the planning mess rested with local authority managers, the minister said. “The decision to grant or refuse permission comes down to the manager. They have to sign off on the developments and I intend to meet with the City and County Managers Association to discuss this issue.

“There will be isolated cases where there are health and safety issues, where ther

e’s inappropriate development in absolutely the wrong areas. The best way to deal with it may be to get rid of it.

“Fundamentally, it will be the responsibility of those who own the properties, many of which will come into the possession of NAMA.”

Councils have also zoned too much development land. Last October, it emerged that there was enough land zoned to build more than a million homes.

IPI president Gerry Sheeran said the advice of local-authority planners was “often ignored” and the “victims” of such decisions were the people “living in unfinished housing estates or on land zoned on flood plains”.

Such is the excess of supply that receivers are selling homes at fire-sale prices, notably in Longford and Mullingar. But Leitrim County Council’s planning officer, Ciaran Tracey, said the 1,000 vacant units in the county could be assets to help attract inward investment. He said: “In Leitrim, we look at houses as an asset which will help us to attract jobs.”

Belfast Telegraph

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/republic-of-ireland-auctions-off-lsquoghostrsquo-14770519.html#ixzz0lTsSWpvu

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IRISH PLANNING INSTITUTE CONFERENCE: TOWN CENTRES will have to be made more appealing to the “grey market” of half-a-million Irish people over the age of 65, including those who had become online “silver surfers”, according to a leading retail specialist.

Cormac Kennedy, of CBRE estate agents, told the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) annual conference in Tullamore yesterday that suburban malls were “chasing that market” with accessible websites, free car parking and more leisure facilities.

“With 400 million active users on Facebook and 50 million messages a day on Twitter, word of mouth is being replaced by word of mouse,” he said. “Yet Dublin city centre or Cork city centre as retail areas have no internet presence compared to, say, Dundrum.

“More and more older people are using internet a lot, so retailers without a place on the web will lose out. Retailers will follow footfalls, and city and town centres need to market themselves against suburban competition if they are to survive.”

Although historic city and town centres scored highly for their “sense of place”, he said access was very important. “Car parking is king, and the availability of free parking in out-of-town centres is a great draw.”

Mr Kennedy said CBRE was receiving a lot more inquiries over the past few months from international retailers seeking to set up here than in 2009. “There’s better value in property terms. The sky hasn’t fallen in, and we still have people spending.”

However, in terms of the average number of people shopping per hour, he said there was a 7 per cent to 8 per cent drop in “footfall” on Dublin’s Grafton Street and Henry Street. “We have to do something to stop that. Otherwise retailers will move to where the footfall is.”

Alison Harvey of the Heritage Council said city and town centres needed to be managed like shopping centres, with a variety of uses to ensure their long-term vitality. Maintaining an attractive public realm also meant “zero tolerance” for graffiti and vandalism.

Richard Guiney, chief executive of the Dublin City Centre Business Improvement District (Bid), said there was 3,200sq m of graffiti in the core retail area when it started two years ago; this was now down to 100sq m “and that’s gone within a day or two”.

He said surveys had shown the city centre to be 37 per cent cleaner than previously, while the number of people who say Dublin is “dirty” had halved. He attributed this to the Bid’s supplementary cleaning and graffiti-removal programmes.

He said the Bid concept had been borrowed from North America, and the aim in Dublin was to ensure the city centre remained “dynamic”.

Working with Dublin City Council, the Garda and other agencies, he said anti-social behaviour was being tackled, extra street lighting installed and more events organised, such as a forthcoming arts festival around “bohemian” South Great George’s Street.

FRANK McDONALD Environment Editor in Tullamore

IrishTimes

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• Janaury Student blog
  - A bit about the whether and a new years welcome message
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• January E-zine
  -Whats to come from the IPI in the new year

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The Irish Planning Institute is pleased to invite nominations for the National Planning Awards 2010. The Awards, which are presented bienially by the Institute, aim to illustrate the diversity and wide scope of planning activity today and give recognition to successful and innovative planning strategies, schemes and developments.

The winners of the Awards also have the opportunity to be entered into the 7th European Urban and Regional Planning Achievement Awards to be held later in 2010.

This year, the Awards focus on three categories:

• Planning Achievement Award
• Conservation Award
• Participatory Planning Award

The Institute is very grateful to the Heritage Council and the Tipperary Institute for their support of the Awards.

The closing date for nominations is 13th November 2009. Further details of the awards and entry requirements can be found by downloading the nominations brochure.

So get on down and get your nominations in!

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