The Irish Planning Institute has said people are entitled to object to developments in their neighbourhood if the plans are “not in keeping with an area”. 

Yesterday, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said there is far too much “tolerance” of people objecting to housing based on the “character” of the area. 

He announced a taskforce to investigate how the State can speed up infrastructure projects and boost the country’s housing stock. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Irish Planning Institute President Gavin Lawlor defended the current system, while conceding it is not perfect. 

“The Irish Planning Institute would be very strong advocates for the system that we have in terms of third-party representation,” he said. 

“It’s served us quite well; unfortunately, it is open to abuse and I work in the private sector and I do see significant abuses of it in terms of delays. 

“What we should be looking to do is resource it and weed out the real objections - and there are real objections. 

“There are developments that are not in keeping with an area, that don’t belong there, that people do highlight. 

“I think there should be confidence in the planning system that those types of developments in any event should be refused irrespective of observations being made by third parties.”

Construction of new road for access to a building site. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Mr Lawlor added that there has long been “frustration” with the length of time it takes for projects to receive approval. 

“If you just look at Metro, Metro is the perfect example of this,” he said. 

“We went through an inordinate amount of detail and planning and design to get a design for MetroNorth. 

“We went through the planning system, it took a long time; we got consent and then we hit an economic crisis and we decided to press pause. 

“So much so that we’ve decided to redesign it and go through the process again.” 

Mr Lawlor added there would be much less “angst” when development proposals are put forward if local residents were kept informed from the beginning. 

“Communities aren’t engaging enough in the plan making stage and if they did, we believe there would be less reason for objection and more clarity,” he said.

Main image: House building. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images