Policy Statement on Development Management and Access to

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National Roads Authority <strong>Policy</strong> on Development Control and Access to National Roads variance with the broader public interest and would, by significantly increasing the cost of the land to be acquired for road schemes, reduce the funding available to the Authority for road construction and improvement work generally. Accordingly, where circumstances warrant, the Authority will make recommendations to planning authorities concerning amendments to development plans with a view to maintaining road scheme route options while planning proceeds and avoiding unnecessary increases in the cost of land required for road related purposes. The Authority is conscious of the uncertainty created as a consequence of the time taken to progress the road scheme route selection process and the implications this has for potential development and related planning applications on the various route options under investigation. The Authority is, however, committed to completing the route selection process within the shortest feasible timeframe, thereby bringing certainty to the situation and allowing interested parties and individuals to make planning applications in respect of route options other than the selected route. 3.2.6. Exceptional Circumstances. The restrictive approach to development on national roads to which speed limits greater than 50 kph apply (paragraph 3.1) may be reviewed as part of the interface between the Authority and planning authorities so as to take account of any relevant exceptional circumstances. Such reviews would be undertaken as part of the development plan revision process. Exceptional circumstances could potentially involve developments of strategic importance which by their nature are most appropriately located outside urban areas and where the locations concerned have specific characteristics that make them particularly suitable for the developments proposed. Developments which could potentially be catered for in this manner might include large retain warehouses to be situated in an Integrated Area Plan area in a Gateway where the road network has sufficient capacity to cater for the scale of development proposed. In considering whether exceptional circumstances warrant special attention, the Authority would take into account matters such as: � the relevance and appropriateness of the proposed development in supporting the aims and objectives of the National Spatial Strategy and Regional Planning Guidelines; � relevant official policies on development management, including <strong>Policy</strong> and Planning Framework for Roads (1985), Sustainable Rural Housing - Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2005) and Retail Planning Guidelines (2005); � nature of proposed development and the volume of traffic to be generated by it; 12
National Roads Authority <strong>Policy</strong> on Development Control and Access to National Roads � implications for the safe and efficient operation of the national road as well as for proposed upgrades or routes for new roads; � implications for the traffic carrying capacity and service life of the road; � suitability of the location vis a vis alternative locations; � existing development in the area, and � the precedent that could be created for follow-on development of a similar nature and the potential implications involved for national roads. 3.3. Planning Applications. 3.3.1. Notification to NRA of Planning Applications. The Authority has the status of a statutory consultee under planning legislation and, accordingly, planning authorities must notify the Authority of planning applications which involve a new access or material widening of an access to an existing or planned national road, or where the proposed development might give rise to a significant increase in the volume of traffic using a national road. 3.3.2. NRA Submissions and Observations . Article 29 of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001, enables the Authority to make submissions or observations to the planning authority in respect of planning applications notified to the N.R.A. The decision as to whether or not the Authority makes a submission or observations is determined on a case-by-case basis. In examining the planning application, the Authority assesses the location proposed, the potential road safety issues arising, the volume of traffic to be generated by the development and the implications for the traffic carrying capacity and efficiency of the national road in the vicinity of the proposed development. Where relevant, the evaluation will also address wider national road network implications and the interrelationship with the surrounding local roads, including the possible need for junction improvements or, in the case of major development proposals generating significant additional traffic, new interchanges. The primary concern of the Authority, in responding to planning applications, is to ensure that the proposed development does not contravene the official policy and guidelines outlined in Part 2. Accordingly, the Authority will, as a general rule, object to planning applications for development that would have unacceptable consequences for the capacity, operation, efficiency or safety of national roads or which relate to locations on the inter-urban national road 13
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