Sir, - One of the most important current issues and challenges in town planning is the drive for sustainable development. This is reflected in the fact that the Irish Planning Institute has already devoted a one day conference to the topic of Local Agenda 21, that the forth coming issue of Pleanail will be devoted to the topic, and that several papers at the 20th anniversary Symposium dealt with the subject. In the area of transportation, there is now a recognised role for planning to achieve patterns of land use that can achieve a reduced demand for transport: one of the roles of town planning is to reduce the need for travel. One of the important issues in that regard is the scope for mixed use policies, the "compact city" form of urban settlement, and, most importantly, the goal to reduce the distance people travel to work.
It is generally accepted that planning has an important contribution to make in reducing this distance to work, which is a major factor in increased demand for car based travel. Planning policies should be aimed at achieving a pattern of land use and urban settlement, whereby people can "live close to their workplace or at least are not encouraged to live at a greater distance than they would like. Financial instruments can play an important role in achieving planning policies. A good example of this has been the role of tax incentives in achieving long standing planning policies which encouraged inner city residential development.
It is in this light that the Irish Planning Institute is concerned about the recent Government decision to increase stamp duty. Stamp duty discourages people from moving house when changing employment and encourages them to commute longer distances to their new workplaces instead. Such disincentives and obstacles to a household's ability to move closer to work make no sense in the context of planning policies and particularly not in the context of sustainable development objectives. It is, therefore, difficult to see how this decision can make sense in the context of the forthcoming National Sustainable Development Strategy.
Public Relations Officer,
Irish Planning Institute,
Merrion Square. Dublin 2.