Co-operative housing view on the National Planning Framework

Co-operative Housing Ireland has made a submission to the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (DHPCLG) on the first stage of the development of a National Planning Framework.  In the submission we propose:

• A vision for Ireland in which everyone has access to adequate housing and is able to participate in the social, economic, and environmental development of the wider community
• A coherent spatial policy that promotes both urban and rural environments, tackling vacancy rates in the building stock and addressing homelessness
• A positive attitude to development demand and a more critical engagement with some aspects of agricultural land use
• Embracing the potential of Dublin to provide more housing, jobs, and services for the benefit of the whole nation
• A place-based approach to enhancing the intrinsic qualities of regional cities and promoting them as places to invest
• A transformation in attitudes to inner urban areas as places to live, work, and spend leisure time
• A focus on raising the standards of urban housing to make cities more attractive places for families to call home
• A programme of research and development to raise standards of design for the built environment
• Engaging with older people and smaller households to understand and respond to their housing aspirations
• Supporting communities in rural towns to take a more active role in promoting local development
• A national landscape strategy to protect and preserve the natural environment and to promote a richer range of activity in the countryside
• New planning processes at the local and regional levels to promote community participation and co-operation
• A long-term national housing strategy as part of the National Planning Framework that guides short-term investment choices
• A review of the Part V approach to housing provision
• A restructuring of provisions around Protected Structures to promote greater use of historic properties while conserving the built heritage
• An investment approach at the local and national levels that aligns spending to planning objectives
• Opportunities should be provided to communities to engage in finding productive uses for vacant and derelict sites and buildings
• Robust governance and oversight mechanisms that engage communities in securing the delivery of the Framework’s objectives.