COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

MOTION NO.5

MOTION: Councillor C. Keane

“ have regard to “ – occurs in many places in the 2004  Plan, since then this expression has been described as meaningless in the High Court case of McEvoy & Smith 2001/359 JRI) That this committee recommends that wherever this phrase occurs substitute : shall, as far as is practical, be consistent with”

REPORT:

The phrase “have regard to” occurs in 43 separate locations in the draft Development Plan, and is used in different senses in a number of instances. Having regard to the issue raised in the court case referred to in the motion, and to the amendment to Section 27 of the Planning and Development Act 2000  proposed in the Planning and Development Bill 2009, which states “ A planning authority shall ensure, when making a development plan, that the plan is consistent with any regional planning guidelines in force for its area” , .it is considered appriopriate to amend the phrase “have regard to”  in the draft plan where reference is being made to government guidelines by substituting the phrase “as far as is practicable, be consistent with” in such instances.

Manager’s Recommendation:

That the proposed motion be adopted with the following amendment:

That where reference is made to government guidelines in the draft plan the phrase “as far as is practicable, be consistent with” be substituted in place of the phrase “have regard to”.