Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas

Chapter 2 Role of development plans and
local area plans
Introduction
2.0 Planning authorities have a statutory responsibility to plan for the
sustainable development of their areas, primarily through the
development plan process but also through local area plans. Nonstatutory
framework plans and site development briefs can
supplement but not replace the function of statutory plans. It is
important that all of these plans and documents, insofar as they relate
to residential development, reflect and amplify the high-level aims set
out in chapter 1.
Plan-led approach
2.1 The Planning and Development Act 2000 introduced a more tiered
and plan-led system, cascading from national strategies to local area
plans. The development plan is at the heart of the system,
transposing national and regional policies and setting the strategic
context for local area plans. The scale, location and nature of major
new residential development will be determined by the development
plan, including both the settlement strategy and the housing strategy.
2.2 Fundamental questions to be addressed at the outset of the planning
process include:
• The amount and type of new housing required to meet the
needs of the wider area, including the provision of social and
affordable housing, and the range of different dwelling types
and sizes, including live-work units;
• The need to adopt a sequential approach to the zoning of
residential lands, extending outwards from the centre of an
urban area, as recommended in the development plan
guidelines (DoEHLG, 2007);
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Planning Guidelines