In 2013 I welcomed the recommendation of the Mahon Tribunal to establish an independent planning regulator, which was finally established in 2019. Two years into his role, this week I interviewed Corkman Niall Cussen, chief executive and planning regulator at the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). “In the 1990’s, we had 88 planning authorities, no regional planning and few guidelines for planning authorities,” he told me. It intervened in a proposed variation of the Cork County Council Development Plan concerning “retail outlet centre” development outside the city. “Visionary and action specific development plans are key in making those targets and we want to support them in that journey.

Source: Irish Independent March 11, 2021 02:26 UTC