The many pitfalls of making plans for Ireland

A little over a decade ago, a new phrase entered the national narrative in relation to planning permission here in Ireland.

The Development Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities, 2007, issued by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, made it very clear that Planners in Public Authorities were to ‘manage’ rather than ‘control’ development.

“In essence, what it meant was that those making planning decisions had to be more proactive rather ...