OVERVIEW
On the 15th of January 2024, the Minister published the ‘Sustainable and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities’, which replace the Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2009.
The Guidelines provide for different densities to respond to settlement size, greater flexibility in residential design standards, setting national standards that support innovation in housing design and a greater range of house types, and more compact own-door housing as an alternative to apartment development. This in turn supports higher densities for own door housing schemes.
In terms of application, the SPPRs contained in the Guidelines will supersede any conflicting provisions in current Development Plans and therefore must be applied by planning authorities when assessing applications in accordance with the provisions of Section 34(2)(ba) of the Act. Planning authorities are also required to have regard to other aspects of the Guidelines in assessing applications, however, conflicting provisions in current Development Plans take precedence. The Circular accompanying the Guidelines encourages planning authorities to review their ‘plans’ to form a view as to whether they are materially consistent with the Guidelines, and where not, they recommend that plans be varied.
The Guidelines seek to support a more consistent approach across local authorities and therefore are welcome. The below outlines some of the key aspects, along with a summary of some of the key changes from the Draft Guidelines.
The Guidelines seek to provide greater flexibility in respect to housing standards, with the following a summary of the specific planning policy requirements (SPPRs). The key provisions from the Draft in relation to SPPRs on key development standards for housing in order to encourage more compact own-door housing solutions are retained, and include:
There are a number of nuanced changes when compared to the draft version of the Guidelines, in particular the removal of the public open space provisions as an SPPR, the omission of proximity to town centres and places of employment in the accessibility criteria, and variations to the settlement types and density ranges in Chapter 3, as summarised below.
The public open space standards were previously included as an SPPR but are now identified as Policy and Objective 5.1 – Public Open Space in the finalised Guidelines, meaning that conflicting provisions in Development Plans will apply until varied.Policy and Objective 5.1 – Public Open Space provides that New residential development provide a minimum of 10% and not more than 15% of the net site area. A higher proportion of public open space may be required in historic, landscape or recreational setting. Offsets/financial contributions (in part or whole) in lieu of open space provision within an application site may be acceptable.
The Guidelines sets out a methodology for identifying appropriate densities in a range of settlements. New and amended density ranges are set out that respond to settlement size. The recommended net density ranges for the different settlement types are as follows (which include some alterations from the Draft Guidelines):
Centre | Urban Neighbourhood | Suburban / Urban extension | |
Dublin/Cork City and Suburbs | 100-300 dph | 50-250 dph | 40-80 dph (+ 150 dph)* |
Limerick / Galway / Waterford | 100-250 dph | 50-200 dph | 35-50 (+ up to 100 dph)* |
Metropolitan Towns (>1,500) | 50-150 dph | 50-150 dph | 35-50 dph (+ up to 100 dph)* |
Metropolitan Area Villages (<1,500) | Reflect existing density and/or bult form not below 25 dph | ||
Regional Growth Centres | 50-150 dph | 50-150 dph | 35-50 dph (+ up to 100 dph)* |
Key Towns and Large Towns (5,000+) | 40-100 dph | 40-100 dph | 30-50 dph (+ up to 80 dph)* |
Small to Medium Sized Town (1,500 – 5,000) | Respond to existing context. | n/a | 25-40 dph |
Rural Towns and Villages (<1,500) | Respond to existing context. | n/a | Respond to existing context. |
There is a presumption against densities that exceed 300 dph (net), unless where plan-led. The exceptions listed under 3.3.6 have been reduced.
A summary of the key changes from the Draft Guidelines include:
The associated non-statutory Design Manual has not been published yet, with the Circular indicating it will be published in early 2024.
A link to the Guidelines can be found here.