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Sustainable Communities and Housing Conference 2009 PLANNING FOR A DIFFERENT FUTURE John O’Connor Chairperson An Bord Pleanála 1 Time to Reflect Lessons from past – good and bad Start laying groundwork now for resurgence Opportunities to take advantage Future must be different Planning system must play part in stabilisation and resurgence 2 Past Decade: Good Outcomes Legislation improved; national guidance expanded Comprehensive planning framework NSS, RPGs, DPs, LAPs, local framework plans Strategic Development Zones (4) Urban renewal Improved design 3 Past Decade: Bad Outcomes Unsustainable development patterns Excessive featureless sprawl Very unsuitable developments in towns and villages Poor residential environments-noisy, poor natural light, car dominated etc. Neglect of water resources/pollution Damage to urban and rural landscapes 4 Reasons for Bad Outcomes Bad development plan zoning Bad planning decisions Lack of adherence to development plan policies Bad design, overdevelopment, car dominated, no space, poor residential environment Inadequate account of infrastructure constraints/economics of provision “any development is good development” syndrome 5 Planning System and Property Bubble Planning system facilitated huge increase in output, but Quantity over quality – quality of development was patchy Became more developer led Development less coherent Less economic use of physical and social infrastructure and natural resources Tax incentives not tied into planning system 6 Developer Led Planning By law, development should be led by democratic plans Developers and vested interests had undue influence on plan making Developers had little regard to statutory development plans in buying land and designing schemes Banks ignored planning parameters in lending L.A.s failed to vindicate own DPs ABP has had to refuse or amend many poor quality developments on appeal Land values subverted - good business/community uses displaced 7 Development Pressures led to Systemic Failures Councillors and management succumbed Every place should be developed! Local authorities failed to send right signals to developers Conflicts between management and planners within local authorities Minimal involvement in planning decisions by L.A. architects ABP decisions frequently not heeded. 8 A Different Future A ‘plan-led’ system: more efficient, equitable and publicly acceptable than ‘developer-led’ system Development plans must be externally and internally consistent: zoning should reflect policy objectives, avoid exceptions Plan for sustainable location – transport, energy, water, flooding (revisit existing zonings). Properly adopted LAPs rather than ‘frameworks’ or developer ‘master plans’ 9 A Different Future contd. Pre-planning consultations and planning decisions should transparently vindicate D. P. objectives, policies Need to implement Sustainable Communities Guidelines 2008 Impending legislation will underpin NAMA and mooted property tax present opportunities 10 National Asset Management Agency NAMA land must maximise benefits to public NAMA must work with planning system: DOEHLG and L.A.s roles Opportunity for L.A.s to take hand in land markets Assemble land banks – good sites for infrastructure, education, enterprise, amenities Help maintain critical level of construction activity Must be more than a financial exercise Opportunity to begin tackling long standing issue of value of development land 11 Mooted Property Tax Absence of proper property taxes contributed to bubble Militates against sustainable efficient planning Supplementary Budget – consideration of new property tax Land value tax should be an element LVT would drive sustainable development , promote logical behaviour and stabilise market Reduce pressure to grant planning permissions to generate revenues LVT would lead to review of development levies 12 Revival/Resurgence Pro-active rather than reactive planning Constructive plan-based engagement with developers Local authorities should actively promote good developments (even small scale) in right locations e.g.town centres, brownfield, in-fill, serviced land Facilitate services for such developments Local authority architects should assist in suitable design Concessions on development levies to incentivise developments Focus major expansion on SDZs 13 Revival/Resurgence continued Use CPO powers for sites (ABP will support) Joint ventures to meet identified development needs Tackle dereliction – strong legislation; small scale interventions may appeal now Provide serviced sites at suitable locations in towns and villages to allow ‘self-design’ and to combat excessive one-off housing in countryside Revised planning permissions could be fasttracked by P.A.s and ABP Compliance conditions could be reduced 14 Concluding Planning has part to play in sustaining/ reviving construction/development Planning must work to keep down costs/improve the economics and sustainability of development Planners and architects in L.A.s working more closely with developers within planning framework; Department and ABP have supporting role. NAMA and new property tax present opportunities for better planning longer term 15