IPI calls for Good Planning to be at the Core of NAMA - Press Release 11th Sept
Friday, September 11, 2009
NAMA must promote proper planning in the common good and not just seek the best financial return on the development of land, the President of the Irish Planning Institute, Mr Gerry Sheeran, has stated. “The NAMA Bill must ensure that proper planning and sustainable development is core to the future development of this massive land portfolio in order to protect and enhance the quality of life for future generations”, he said. The IPI - which represents professional planners around the country - has also written to the Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Lenihan TD, offering to meet his officials to help with details of the NAMA legislation, particularly in relation to planning and development implications. Mr Sheeran, on behalf of IPI, stated: “The State through NAMA will ultimately hold a very large proportion of all developable property in the State and therefore the NAMA bill must incorporate the principles of proper planning and sustainable development in dealing with this massive property and land bank portfolio.” Recognising the NAMA Bill as “one of the most critical in the State’s history,” the Institute warns that the objective of securing the best possible return on land when pursued by landowners and developers in the past has in many cases “resulted in bad planning and unsustainable zoning and has contributed to the current financial problems of the State.” In July 2003 the Institute requested the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution to implement the proposals in the Kenny Report of the 1970s which stated that the increased value of land, resulting from it being zoned for development, should go to the State to be used for community and social purposes rather than for the windfall benefit of developers and landowners. In this respect, the Institute strongly welcomes the decision of the Government to introduce a windfall tax on 80 per cent of the profits resulting from re-zoning decisions. The IPI added: “NAMA presents an opportunity to obtain land in the control of the State which from a planning perspective has the advantage of facilitating a ‘plan led’ rather than a ‘developer led’ approach. Good planning can increase the value of land (by achieving a better use mix or by providing public infrastructure such as public transport) or can ensure the provision of social infrastructure (schools, community facilities, parks and social housing) in a timely and coherent fashion.”