COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

QUESTION NO.23

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive are LAPs legally binding and to report how they are enforced ?

REPLY:

Local Area Plans (LAPs) are provided for in Part II, Chapter II, sections 18 to 20 of the Planning and Development Acts. As such, they are statutory plans setting out the policy and land-use objectives for a particular area. Section 19 of the Act states that:

A local area plan may be prepared in respect of any area, including a Gaeltacht area, or an existing suburb of an urban area, which the planning authority considers suitable and, in particular, for those areas which require economic, physical and social renewal and for areas likely to be subject to large scale development within the lifetime of the plan.

LAPs are part of a plan-led system aimed at ensuring proper planning and sustainable development of land through a hierarchy of inter-related and complementary plans and policies at national, regional and local levels. LAPs fall immediately below the Development Plan in this hierarchy and must be consistent with it, providing for more detailed planning policies for areas where significant development and change is anticipated. 

Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Local Area Plans was published by the Department in June 2013. The guidelines set out the procedures and requirements of local area plans and state:

Statutory local area plans provide for proper consultation with the public and statutory consultees, and are subject to approval by elected members and together with the Development Plan, establish a key element of the policy context for making decisions on planning applications and appeals.

LAPs are implemented through the development management process as part of the assessment of planning applications.  They can also serve as policy instruments to promote economic renewal, for instance, in regeneration and ensuring the protection of environmental qualities. It is important to note that an LAP is Plan used to guide development and is not a legally binding contract.