Planning and Development Act 2024

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PART 3

Plans, Policies and Related Matters

Chapter 1

Preliminary Matters

Definitions

17. In this Part—

“anthropogenic”, in relation to greenhouse gas emissions, means those emissions that result from or are produced by human activity or intervention;

“associate planning authority” means a planning authority that has been designated as an associate planning authority in a regional spatial and economic strategy in accordance with paragraph (d) of subsection (10) of section 29 ;

“built up area” means a collection of statistical small areas, identified by the Central Statistics Office as a built up area following a census of population of the State;

“compact urban development”, in relation to an urban area, means development within the existing, built-up footprint of the area concerned on land which is suitable for development, and “compact urban development site” is to be construed accordingly;

“coordinated area plan committee” means the committee appointed under subsection (3) of section 73 ;

“functional area” means—

(a) in relation to a planning authority (other than a coastal planning authority), its administrative area for the purposes of the Act of 2001, and

(b) in relation to a planning authority that is a coastal planning authority, its administrative area for the purposes of the Act of 2001 up to the high water mark;

“key town” means a settlement that has been identified and designated as a key town in a regional spatial and economic strategy in accordance with subsection (8) of section 29 ;

“Local Community Development Committee” means a committee established under section 49A of the Act of 2001;

“long-term strategic development site” means a site within an urban area that is large relative to the urban area and that is suitable for development that would require to be carried out over a period exceeding one development plan cycle of 10 years;

“material alteration” includes an alteration which is likely to have significant effects on the environment or on any European site;

“metropolitan area”, in relation to a city, means the area defined by the geographical boundary as prescribed;

“metropolitan area strategic plan” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (2) of section 29 ;

“National Biodiversity Action Plan” has the same meaning as it has in section 59A of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 ;

“Opinion on Development Plan Strategy” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (3) of section 53 ;

“principal planning authority” means a planning authority that has been designated as a principal planning authority in a regional spatial and economic strategy in accordance with paragraph (c) of subsection (10) of section 29 ;

“regional growth centre” means any large settlement with a high level of self-sustaining employment and services that acts as a regional economic driver that has been designated as a regional growth centre in the National Planning Framework;

“screening assessment” means an assessment for the purposes of determining whether a strategic environmental assessment or an appropriate assessment, as the case may be, is or is not required;

“settlement” means a village, built up area or city identified by the Central Statistics Office following a census of population of the State, containing a minimum of 50 occupied dwellings with a maximum distance between any dwelling and the building closest to it of 100 metres, save where there are references to “part of the urban area of a settlement” in which case “settlement” means a town or city with a population of at least 1,500 persons;

“settlement hierarchy” means the settlement hierarchy set out in the written statement of a development plan in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and subsection (4) of section 43 ;

“settlement-specific objectives” has the meaning assigned to it by paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 52 ;

“settlement strategy” means the settlement strategy set out in the written statement of a development plan in accordance with paragraph (c) of subsection (3) and subsection (5) of section 43 ;

“Strategic Issues and Options Paper” has the meaning assigned to it by subsection (6) of section 53 ;

“transport infrastructure” includes roads, railways and public transport (including infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians);

“traveller” has the meaning assigned to it by the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 ;

“urban area” means an area in a town or city, being an area containing a minimum of 100 buildings each within a maximum distance of 65 metres of at least one other building, and includes roads and other surfaced areas such as car parks and yards and artificial green spaces such as parks and gardens, that are adjacent to or within the area;

“zoning objectives” means objectives for the zoning of land for a particular use or mixture of uses included in a development plan in accordance with subsection (6) of section 43 .