Navan plan still not finished

Are the councils slow to deliver on new housing in the Strategic Development Zones for residential housing? Or does the problem lie with An Bord Pleanála and its approval mechanisms?

Some property sources believe it is the Bord's fault. "It is unsatisfactory to say the least that it would take the bord 15 months to decide on this kind of appeal," once source commented.

Another suggested the bord was dragging its feet. "Making the SDZ is their function," the source said. The councils don't have the ultimate decision on making a SDZ."

There was no such difficulty at South Dublin County Council's Adamstown site, however, where approval came through in just 18 weeks.

Other problems have dogged Meath County Council's SDZ at Clonmagadden Valley near Navan. Here the difficulty has been in winning agreement between the developers, the county manager and the elected members of the council, explained Mr Bernard Greene, acting senior planner for Meath County Council.

The site is owned by several developers and it was a slow process getting agreement between the council and the owners, he said. "Each developer would like to get the best development potential," and this took a lot of debate, he said.

The draft scheme for Clonmagadden Valley was published in June 2003, he said and there were 600 submissions received in relation to it. The councillors and the manager kicked the issue back and forth and in December 2003 the modified draft plan was accepted by the council.

An Bord Pleanála dismantled many of the additions forced in by the councillors however and the Bord's approval didn't come until May of this year.

"Elected members and the planning authority do not always agree," Mr Greene said.

The council has yet to actually publish its plans for the new SDZ, he added. "We are in the process of consolidating the scheme," he said. "We would hope that the consolidated scheme will be published within the next few weeks."

He acknowledged that the system was slow to start. "In terms of fast-tracking, there is still no plan lodged," he said. "Obviously it was like any new planning tool, there are a lot of teething problems."

Mr Greene agrees however that it is slower than the conventional planning approach. "Without a doubt," he said. There were also infrastructural deficits that held the programme back. He wonders whether sufficient thought was given to the appropriateness of the Clonmagadden Valley site when the initial SDZs were approved.

The site is significantly smaller than the other SDZs with fewer homes. It is also well outside Dublin.

"You would wonder about the suitability of it. If it was designed to solve the housing crisis in Dublin, Navan is somewhat removed from it. You would wonder whether the SDZ in Navan was an issue of national importance."

The SDZ approach was also introduced for another purpose, he added.

"Originally the SDZ was looked at for industrial development but it was changed for residential development.

"The SDZ has merit for industrial development but not for residential," he suggests.