Transitions of spatial planning in Ireland: moving from a localised to a strategic national and regional approach

Abstract

Major policy or paradigm shifts to more sustainable development paths present political, economic and social challenges. In Ireland, the experiences of other European states have been used to shift what was a localised development-led planning system towards the incorporation of national and strategic approaches. The transition is from a land-use planning approach with a market-led emphasis based on a local plan making function with regulatory controls. This paper explores the process, factors and inherent difficulties involved in moving from a localized to more integrated and strategic approaches and examines experiences to date.

Planning and 3D Spatial Media: Progress, Prospects, and the Knowledge and Experiences of Local Government Planners in Ireland

“…Local authorities are just one component of the Irish planning system (see Figure 1), but they are the key agencies in plan-and decision-making, centrally involved in pre-planning processes, evaluating and approving planning applications, and enforcement. It should be noted, however, that planning departments in Ireland are small and not well resourced compared to other jurisdictions, especially after a decade of downsizing and underinvestment following the 2008 financial crash (Williams & Nedovic-Budic, 2020). By observing, engaging, and empathizing with local authority planners directly, our aim was to create insights into their experiences and motivations, how technology is enrolled and used in context, how local authorities might use 3D technology in their day-to-day processes, how useful they think 3D spatial media might be, and how they feel about using it.…”

“…While our sample might be representative of views within the Irish planning system, there is a question as to whether they are shared elsewhere. There are reasons to believe that they will have resonance beyond Ireland as the themes and reasoning that were voiced with regards to 3D data availability, quality and interoperability, issues of finance and IT resourcing, skills capacity, and institutional barriers are common across jurisdictions, especially in neoliberal regimes where local authorities are operating within austerity measures and for smaller local authorities with limited capacities (Williams & Nedovic-Budic, 2020). Regardless, they provide insights into how 3D spatial media are presently viewed and used within the Irish context.…”

Strategic Spatial Planning in Irish Local Communities

“…At a local level, some developers felt that restrictions were unnecessary and arbitrary, with the third-party appeals process deemed problematic when it was in fact meant to be democratic. Williams and Nedović-Budić (2020) argued that streamlining of planning applications undermines local autonomy, since local authorities are no longer the decision makers on what gets built in their area.…”

“…At the core of the Irish planning system is the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 2000 which set out to modernize and revitalize planning in Ireland. This Act introduced for the first time an ethos of sustainable development into Irish planning law, as well as a new strategically focused approach aiming to connect the dots between local, regional, and national planning issues (Williams and Nedović-Budić, 2020).…”

“…At the policy level on a macro scale, the most important document used by local authorities to determine the viability of planning applications is the city or county development plan. Development plans were described by the Irish Supreme Court as 'an environmental contract between the planning authority, the council, and the community embodying a promise by the council that it will regulate private development in a manner consistent with the objectives stated in the plan' (Williams and Nedović-Budić, 2020). Since the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, development plans have been produced every six years by local authorities.…”