A system whereby a large part of the profits made on land as a result of rezoning can be returned to the community in the form of facilities and amenities was called for by the president of the Irish Planning Institute, Mr Philip Jones, yesterday.
He said the advice of planners on proposed land rezoning for development had often been ignored in favour of projects which were not to the benefit of the community or the environment.
Mr Jones said the Flood tribunal had once again highlighted gaping inadequacies and the lack of safeguards in the planning system.
"The question has to be asked, are we planning for the development of communities, or for landowners and developers." Mr Jones was speaking at the institute's annual conference in Westport, which continues today and whose speakers include Mr Enda Kenny TD and Mr Frank McDonald of The Irish Times.
In his opening address, Mr Jones said the core of the problem was the huge financial gains made from the rezoning of land. "We need to separate the right to own property from the so-called right to develop it," he said.
He proposed that instead of profits from rezoning of land being subject to a 20 per cent tax rate, the tax take should be increased fourfold in the form of a "local betterment tax" to be redirected to the local authorities.
"Are we mature enough as a society, are our politicians brave enough, to introduce a system where a substantial proportion of the increased value of land as a direct result of rezoning - the `betterment' - is returned to the people in the form of local facilities and amenities?" Mr Jones asked.
He also called for a new system of reviewing local or county rezoning proposals. Submissions from all parties should be heard first in public open session by an independent inspector who would then report to councillors. It would still be up to the councillors to decide but it would create greater independence and transparency in the process, Mr Jones said.
He also proposed that zoning decisions should have the support of three quarters of the council to be passed.
"This would ensure that only those rezonings with a wide measure of political support would get through and this would make any future attempts to influence such decisions much more difficult," Mr Jones said.
Ms Mary Darley, technical director, strategic planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area, told the conference the construction industry would have to expand its 15,000 housing units a year output by 25 per cent to meet demand.
Mr Farannan Tannam, IDA Ireland, said the IDA's work was far from complete even though the national unemployment figure was so low. He warned it should not be assumed that the State's current growth and success would continue.