Enforcement of planning law and the powers of An Bord Pleanála (or An Coimisiún Pleanála, in time) and local authorities in this respect will be of particular interest to developers. In relation to enforcement, there are very few changes to the current regime envisaged by the new Planning and Development Bill (the Bill). Enforcement, which is currently governed by Part VIII sections 151-164A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, is dealt with in Part 11 sections 289-300 of the Bill.

The time limits, procedures and options for enforcement are all essentially the same and, of particular note, the 7 year time limit for enforcement remains. As before, no planning permission is needed to comply with the terms of enforcement notices or court orders.

Once the Bill is enacted, a section 160 planning injunction will be referred to as a section 294 injunction – one to add to your planning law lexicons!

Under the Bill as drafted there is little that large scale residential and housing developers will not be familiar with when it comes to enforcement of planning law, however this may change as the Bill moves through the legislative process. Our Environmental & Planning Team is paying close attention to the Bill as it passes through the Oireachtas and will post all relevant updates here.

For further information on this topic, please contact Alison Fanagan, Consultant, or any member of A&L Goodbody’s Environmental & Planning team.