An Bord Pleanála website needs to be updated to allow for online appeals – Moynihan
An Bord Pleanála need to update their website to allow people to submit planning observations or objections online according to Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan.
Moynihan says the move is necessary to make it easier for people to make observations to the large number of Strategic Housing Developments which the authority is currently processing.
Senator Moynihan said:
“Most local authorities have a website or an email address that allows people to lodge observations to planning applications. However, in the case of An Bord Pleanála, if you want to make an objection, you have to physically present at their office in order to pay electronically or with cash.
“If you want to post an appeal, you must enclose a cheque or send a bank draft, which forces most people to go to their bank and pay €2.50 for a bank draft as relatively few people have a cheque book nowadays.
“Since Strategic Housing Developments were introduced in 2017, An Bord Pleanála have processed a significant number of these applications and given the volume and the impact they have on a local area, they need to move to a system to make it easier for people to lodge and pay electronically for their submissions online.
“This is even more urgent in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic where we are all being urged to keep our unnecessary contacts and travel to a minimum.
Senator Moynihan continued:
“Community consultation is an intricate part of the planning process and this is a relatively simple measure that the planning authority should have taken before now to streamline and make the process more accessible for all.