Planning and Development Act, 2000

Regional planning guidelines and development plans.

27.—(1) A planning authority shall have regard to any regional planning guidelines in force for its area when making and adopting a development plan.

(2) The Minister may, by order, determine that planning authorities shall comply with any regional planning guidelines in force for their area, or any part thereof, when preparing and making a development plan, or may require in accordance with section 31 that an existing development plan comply with any regional planning guidelines in force for the area.

(3) An order under subsection (2) may relate to regional planning guidelines generally, or one or more specified guidelines, or may relate to specific elements of those guidelines.

(4) Following the making of regional planning guidelines for their area, planning authorities shall review the existing development plan and consider whether any variation of the development plan is necessary in order to achieve the objectives of the regional planning guidelines.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a planning authority may have, but shall not be obliged to have, regard to any regional planning guidelines after 6 years from the making of such guidelines.