Puckane Development Association

The Puckane Development Association would like to make the following submission to the Draft Regional
Planning Guidelines 2010 – 2022 published by the Mid West Regional Authority. Puckane Development
Association welcome the publication of the Draft County Development Plan 2010 – 2016 and see this as
an opportunity to address the planning oversights of both County Development Plans and Local Area
Plans within the Mid West Region.

Statutory Planning Context

The Planning & Development (Amendment) Bill published in May 2009 proposes a series of legislative
changes which impact on the role of the Regional Planning Guidelines. A key element in the draft
legislation is a requirement for local planning authorities to produce an evidence based “core strategy” in
development plans which provide relevant information as to how the Development Plan and Housing
Strategy are consistent with Regional Planning Guidelines and the National Spatial Strategy.
Development Plans generally under Section 13 will be required to be consistent with the RPGs in force
for the area to help achieve coherence between the hierarchy of forward plans.

Puckane Development Association Submission

From our experience of the planning process it is that the planning process is about people, not buildings
and the views of the local community be taken on board and given consideration by the planning
authority.

Good planning can bring enormous benefits to individuals and communities. It will allow communities to
prosper and develop in the long term. The Regional Planning Guidelines has a unique opportunity
through providing guidance to County Development Plan & Local Area Plans to promote sustainable
development within the Mid West Region and provide for a mechanism which will allow for reductions in
the vast quantity of over zoning that has occurred in the preceding 10 years as acknowledged within the
Draft RPG’s .

Bad planning and overzoning that we have witnessed in Ireland in the last decade played a significant
part in our current economic recession and fuelled the property bubble. This has particular reference to
the Western Area Local Area Plan published by North Tipperary County Council. Fields that should have
been left to agricultural uses were rezoned and then sold on for gargantuan profits to developers who
borrowed heavily to buy them. Communities, such as Newport & Ballina which saw enormous growth
without the necessary infrastructure, are now suffering most from the recession. In the adoption of the
WALAP National and regional planning guidelines were ignored, and in many villages’ vast quantities of
land was rezoned for development purposes without any rational or justification offered.

Proper implementation and oversight of zoning procedure and policies would eliminate the need to
counter the effects of excessive lands being available for development purposes in smaller rural areas.
Zonings that are not in keeping with the overall strategies, guidelines and the key planning principles
should be reversed. We submit the following for consideration;

• To propose to implement comprehensive planning guidelines within the Regional Planning Guidelines
without addressing the adverse effects of excessive zoning that has already occurred in many rural
areas of the region would be akin to closing the barn door when all the horses have bolted and just
walking away.
• The authority should consider stronger policy in this regard and the implementation of meaningful
statutory measures needs to be seriously considered to have proper redress for areas where
excessive zoning has already occurred.
• We make these comments in the hope that they may effect positive change in this regard and despite
past negative experience in the Development Plan Process, we look forward optimistically to having a
real say in how we grow from village past to village future.

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The Regional Planning guidelines 2010 - 2022 has a unique opportunity the address the unsustainable
over zoning of lands within rural villages throughout the region where there is inadequate infrastructure to
cope with demand. Therefore we propose that facilities be included within the Development Plan
Implications listed within the RPG’s that requires Local Authorities to De-zone land that has been zoned
in inappropriate areas where the proper infrastructure is not in place to facilitate to development of lands
with no rationale or justification offered for the re-zoning of the said lands . A minimum suggestion for
inclusion in the Development Plan Implications is as follows;

“Where land, which is zoned for development under County Development

Plans / LAP’s, is not developed for that purpose during the lifetime of this
Plan, where there is no rationale or justification for the rezoning of the
lands and where there is no infrastructure in place to cater for the
development of the said lands, the Council will consider de-zoning it
under the review process of the County Development Plan / LAP”.

The pressing need for a facility to provide for the de-zoning of land is emphasised in Puckane a village of
approx 250 persons and 100 odd housing units; however 105 acres were rezoned in our most recent
“Local Area Plan” WALAP. No rationale or justification for the quantity of land zoned was provided by
North Tipperary County Council during the Local Area Plan process.

In relation to villages I would like to refer to the Guidelines for Local Authorities Sustainable Residential
Development in Urban Areas which state;
“For villages of under 400 in population, general development of new housing schemes of more than
about 10-12 units will usually be difficult or inappropriate due to an absence of a sufficiently developed
urban structure to cater for the development and should therefore be discouraged.”

Furthermore the requirement for the de-zoning of land has been highlighted by Mr. John O’Connor
Chairman of An Bord Pleanala in his 2008 annual report.

The Puckane Development Association wish to thank you in advance of you time spent reviewing this
submission and look forward to working with the regional authority during the process of the adoption of
the plan.

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