Shortly before the general election, the government published a draft schedule of amendments to the revised National Planning Framework, a key document underpinning policy in a range of areas, notably State investment. The focus at the time was the announcement that the annual target for housing completions was to be increased to an average of just over 50,000 over the next five years. But there is a lot more to the revised framework, the final version of which will be completed shortly and then be submitted to the Oireachtas for approval.
This is the first revision of Ireland’s framework, initially published in 2018 as a guide to spatial planning. It is a vital input into policy not only in housing, but also wider economic and social infrastructure – everything from energy and water to schools, health centres and hospitals. And it needs to link to national, regional and local authority planning.
The process to develop a revised framework was started in June 2023. It was due to be finished by March of this year, but has been delayed. This is part of a wider story of the lethargy of the outgoing Coalition in progressing vital administrative and planning reforms. A major new planning bill was only passed in its dying days in office and implementation will fall to the next government.
Everyone agrees that Ireland has a big deficit in housing and wider infrastructure as the population has grown; just last weekend former taoiseach Leo Varadkar pointed to the shortfall in the provision of new hospitals. The new administration needs to take a planned approach to tackling all this and the new spatial strategy must have a central role. Not only do we need new homes to be built, we need the right kind of houses in the correct locations. The same applies to hospitals, public transport and other vital infrastructure.
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The framework will reiterate the goal of " compact” development, with more people living closer to city and town centres. National policy in this area remains largely unexplained to the general public and key incentives are pushing in the opposite direction. As an expert group review of the initial planning framework for the government said in September 2023 much better coordination and communication in this area are vital.
So is greater speed. As well as better planning and administration in housing, this requires the accelerated provision of water and energy to housing and industrial developments. Again quoting the government-commissioned review, planning decisions are too often seen in an individual context and in the light of third-party objections, rather than as part of a wider national policy.
If the new planning act and the administration of the system does not improve this, it will represent a major failure. And a new national planning framework needs to underpin all this and give it coherence.