Galway City Council is to publish its new Draft Development Plan in the coming days. The new City Development Plan will set out the Council’s strategy for the future development of the city and will include land use zonings and development standards. The Development Plan will run for a 6-year period from 2011 and will form the basis of all planning decisions during that time.
The Draft Plan will be available for public inspection and submissions can be made by anyone during a minimum 10-week period.
The Galway City Development Plan is an important planning document as it sets out the Council’s overall development strategy and, in particular, its policies and objectives for future development in the area. The Development Plan identifies areas for future growth and may also designate areas where development is to be restricted or not permitted. All development proposals are assessed against the Development Plan and this will usually determine whether particular uses and proposals will be acceptable.
The current Galway City Development Plan was adopted in 2005 and expires in 2011. The preparation of the new City Development Plan takes approximately two years and has to be adopted by January 2011. As part of the process to prepare a new City Development Plan, the City Council published an Issues Paper in February 2009 and sought initial submissions on planning issues. Any submissions received should be considered by the Council in the preparation of a Draft Plan for further public consultation.
Planning legislation sets out a framework for public consultation in the Development Plan-making process and the forth-coming Draft Development Plan is a key stage for public submissions. All submissions made in relation to the Draft Plan must be taken into account by the City Manager and, ultimately, by Elected Members who must agree the final Plan.
Submission to the Draft Plan can relate to any planning matter, including general policies, specific objectives and development standards. Submissions are often related to the zoning objectives and may be seeking a change of zoning on a particular site. In these cases in particular, submissions must make a clear and reasoned planning argument for the requested land use zoning on the site.
The Draft Plan stage represents a key opportunity for submissions to influence the final contents of the Development Plan. This is probably the most important stage for public submissions. The City Manager is required to prepare a report on all submissions and make recommendations to the Elected Members. This is expected to be circulated to Galway City Councillors around June 2010 and the Councillors must then decide whether to adopt the Draft Plan as published or to make Amendments. If Amendments are proposed, further submissions may be made in relation these proposed amendments before the Council decides to finalise and adopt the Development Plan.
Watch this space for further details on the Draft City Development Plan when it is published.