8/14/2019 Pda Submission RPG 010310

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Puckane Development AssociationPuckane Development AssociationPuckane Development AssociationPuckane Development AssociationThe Puckane Development Association would like to make the following submission to the Draft RegionalPlanning Guidelines 2010 2022 published by the Mid West Regional Authority. Puckane DevelopmentAssociation welcome the publication of the Draft County Development Plan 2010 2016 and see this asan opportunity to address the planning oversights of both County Development Plans and Local AreaPlans within the Mid West Region.

Statutory Planning Context

The Planning & Development (Amendment) Bill published in May 2009 proposes a series of legislativechanges which impact on the role of the Regional Planning Guidelines. A key element in the draftlegislation is a requirement for local planning authorities to produce an evidence based core strategy indevelopment plans which provide relevant information as to how the Development Plan and HousingStrategy are consistent with Regional Planning Guidelines and the National Spatial Strategy.Development Plans generally under Section 13 will be required to be consistent with the RPGs in forcefor the area to help achieve coherence between the hierarchy of forward plans.

Puckane Development Association Submission

From our experience of the planning process it is that the planning process is about people, not buildingsand the views of the local community be taken on board and given consideration by the planningauthority.

Good planning can bring enormous benefits to individuals and communities. It will allow communities toprosper and develop in the long term. The Regional Planning Guidelines has a unique opportunitythrough providing guidance to County Development Plan & Local Area Plans to promote sustainabledevelopment within the Mid West Region and provide for a mechanism which will allow for reductions inthe vast quantity of over zoning that has occurred in the preceding 10 years as acknowledged within theDraft RPGs .

Bad planning and overzoning that we have witnessed in Ireland in the last decade played a significantpart in our current economic recession and fuelled the property bubble. This has particular reference tothe Western Area Local Area Plan published by North Tipperary County Council. Fields that should havebeen left to agricultural uses were rezoned and then sold on for gargantuan profits to developers whoborrowed heavily to buy them. Communities, such as Newport & Ballina which saw enormous growthwithout the necessary infrastructure, are now suffering most from the recession. In the adoption of theWALAP National and regional planning guidelines were ignored, and in many villages vast quantities ofland was rezoned for development purposes without any rational or justification offered.

Proper implementation and oversight of zoning procedure and policies would eliminate the need tocounter the effects of excessive lands being available for development purposes in smaller rural areas.Zonings that are not in keeping with the overall strategies, guidelines and the key planning principlesshould be reversed. We submit the following for consideration;

To propose to implement comprehensive planning guidelines within the Regional Planning Guidelineswithout addressing the adverse effects of excessive zoning that has already occurred in many ruralareas of the region would be akin to closing the barn door when all the horses have bolted and justwalking away.

The authority should consider stronger policy in this regard and the implementation of meaningfulstatutory measures needs to be seriously considered to have proper redress for areas whereexcessive zoning has already occurred.

We make these comments in the hope that they may effect positive change in this regard and despitepast negative experience in the Development Plan Process, we look forward optimistically to having areal say in how we grow from village past to village future.

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The Regional Planning guidelines 2010 - 2022 has a unique opportunity the address the unsustainableover zoning of lands within rural villages throughout the region where there is inadequate infrastructure tocope with demand. Therefore we propose that facilities be included within the Development PlanImplications listed within the RPGs that requires Local Authorities to De-zone land that has been zoned

in inappropriate areas where the proper infrastructure is not in place to facilitate to development of landswith no rationale or justification offered for the re-zoning of the said lands . A minimum suggestion forinclusion in the Development Plan Implications is as follows;

Where land, which is zoned for development under County Development Plans / LAPs, is not developed for that purpose during the lifetime of this Plan, where there is no rationale or justification for the rezoning of the lands and where there is no infrastructure in place to cater for the development of the said lands, the Council will consider de-zoning it under the review process of the County Development Plan / LAP.

The pressing need for a facility to provide for the de-zoning of land is emphasised in Puckane a village ofapprox 250 persons and 100 odd housing units; however 105 acres were rezoned in our most recentLocal Area Plan WALAP. No rationale or justification for the quantity of land zoned was provided by

North Tipperary County Council during the Local Area Plan process.

In relation to villages I would like to refer to the Guidelines for Local Authorities Sustainable ResidentialDevelopment in Urban Areas which state;For villages of under 400 in population, general development of new housing schemes of more than about 10-12 units will usually be difficult or inappropriate due to an absence of a sufficiently developed urban structure to cater for the development and should therefore be discouraged.

Furthermore the requirement for the de-zoning of land has been highlighted by Mr. John OConnorChairman of An Bord Pleanala in his 2008 annual report.

The Puckane Development Association wish to thank you in advance of you time spent reviewing thissubmission and look forward to working with the regional authority during the process of the adoption ofthe plan.