Environment & Planning
"In upholding the judgment of the High Court, the Court of Appeal held that no planning permission is required for harvesting seaweed on the foreshore."
RECENT DOMESTIC JUDGMENTS
- The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal and agreed with the trial judge that the harvesting of wild kelp by mechanised means on the foreshore is not an activity that requires planning permission. Read more...
- The High Court quashed An Board Pleanála’s decision to grant planning permission for the development of a protected structure and its surrounding site into apartment blocks where the EIA was inadequate. Read more...
- The High Court upheld the constitutional validity of legislation which grants the Minister for Environment and Local Government power to issue guidelines to planning authorities. Read more...
- The CJEU clarified the scope of the SEA Directive and interpretation of the EIA Directive. Read more...
- The High Court reaffirmed that the imposition of timelines within which a judicial review must be brought are constitutional. Read more...
- The Supreme Court granted leave for a leapfrog appeal from the High Court which refused judicial review reliefs in respect of certain zoning decisions made in the respondent’s County Development Plan. Read more...
- The Supreme Court granted leave for a leapfrog appeal from the High Court, which held that the nature of a Development Plan was such that a challenge to a decision made within the Plan must be accompanied by a challenge to the core strategy of the Plan. Read more...
"The Government has approved publication of the general scheme (draft heads) of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022."
LEGISLATION
Environmental Protection Agency (Designated Development) (Industrial Emissions) (Licensing) Regulations 2023
These Regulations set out the application process from an Industrial Emissions Licensing perspective in respect of designated development under the Development (Emergency Electricity Generation) Act 2022.
DOMESTIC REPORTS, CONSULTATIONS AND DECISIONS
Terms of reference - External Scoping Investigation
The Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála has instructed Lorna Lynch SC to carry out a scoping investigation into certain matters pertaining to An Bord Pleanála. The terms of reference of this can be found via the following link.
General Scheme Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022
The Government has approved publication of the general scheme (draft heads) of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022. The general scheme provides for:
- local authorities to secure a proportion of the increase in land values arising from public decisions to zone land for development including housing, or subject to an Urban Development Zone designation;
- designation of Urban Development Zones which have potential for significant development for housing and other purposes.
Pre-legislative scrutiny before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has commenced.