COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, November 08, 2021
QUESTION NO.17
QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons
To ask the Chief Executive to comment on Lack of transport and schools that puts areas in west Dublin under 'development pressure' as highlighted by the Office of the Planning Regulator and to ask how SDCC Planning will work to address these issues.
REPLY:
A submission from the Office of the Planning Regulator was received as part of the consultation process for the Draft County Development Plan which took place between July and September 2021. The Office has a key function in the assessment of statutory plans to ensure consistency with legislative and policy requirements relating to planning.
All 302 submissions received as part of the consultation process for the Draft County Development Plan will be assessed and a CE Report will be submitted to the Members on the 7th December in line with statutory timelines for the Development Plan process. The response to the submission from the OPR will be dealt with separately within the CE Report as required under the legislation.
In their submission, the Office of the Planning Regulator (the OPR) acknowledged the considerable work that the planning authority had undertaken in the preparation of the draft Plan against the backdrop of an evolving national and regional planning policy and regulatory context. In particular, the Office strongly commended the emphasis on addressing the needs of climate change throughout the draft Plan, in particular the positive approaches for green infrastructure and more sustainable travel patterns. The planning authority was also commended for the evidence-based approach supporting the policies and objectives in the draft Plan which include, inter alia, a land capacity analysis, infrastructural assessment and asset-based analysis.
The OPR made a number of recommendations and observations which the local authority is required to address or provide further information on in relation to the policy set out in the Development Plan. These included a recommendation relating to Newcastle and Rathcoole requiring the planning authority to review the extent of land zoned RES-N in those settlements and change any surplus land which provides for a population growth in excess of a percentage growth set out in National Policy Objective 9 in the National Planning Framework. The OPR states that this is necessary to ensure that the growth of these settlements over the plan period has regard to their limited public transport provision and deficits in social services.
The CE will respond to this, and the other recommendations made by the OPR as part of the CE Report on the submissions to the draft plan, which as indicated above, will be submitted to the Councillors on 7th December.