Dempsey to limit land use zoning to five-year period

The planning laws are likely to be amended to limit the zoning of land for residential or industrial use to the five-year lifespan of local authority development plans, according to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.

He was speaking yesterday on the publication of new strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area - counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow - which will chart its development for the next decade.

Mr Dempsey said that with the Dublin region "growing at breakneck speed" as a result of the booming economy "the need for a planning strategy to guide the future development of Dublin and its hinterland is beyond debate".

The greater Dublin area's population is set to grow by more than 250,000, from 1.4 million in 1996 to 1.65 million in the year 2011, and the number of households could increase by almost as much - from 440,000 to 660,000 - in the same period.

Against this background, the new planning strategy - commissioned by the Dublin and mid-east regional authorities and drawn up by a team of consultants led by Brady Shipman Martin - was "coming just in the nick of time", the Minister said.

The new strategy aims to consolidate the metropolitan area - defined as extending from Rush in the north to Greystones in the south and westward to Kilcock, Co Kildare - while developing strong growth centres in the area around it.

Described by Mr Dempsey as "dynamic satellite development centres", these would include Drogheda, Navan, Naas and Wicklow.

They are to have a high level of employment activities, shopping and social facilities to avoid becoming "dormitory towns".

Large areas of "strategic green belt" are proposed to protect the countryside and to ensure that there is a clear distinction between urban and rural areas. Apart from farming, they may include leisure activities requiring a lot of land, such as golf.

Mr Dempsey stressed the need for continuous monitoring to oversee implementation of the guidelines. But he said there was also a need for flexibility to accommodate major changes to the underlying economic and demographic assumptions on which they are based. "Consequently, I agree that it is better to limit land use zoning to the life of the development plan and that zoning should wither when the plan expires. This is one of the reforms I am addressing in the Planning Bill now being drafted."

To ensure that the guidelines are implemented, the Minister said he intended "immediately to formally request each local authority [in the greater Dublin area] to ensure that their development plans are fully in line with the strategy".

Referring to the need for further major investment in transportation in the greater Dublin area, he said the Government does "not need any convincing of this and I am certain that it will be reflected in the National Development Plan".

Detailed reports and commentary on the strategic planning guidelines will be carried tomorrow.