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22 1934

TOWN AND REGIONAL PLANNING ACT, 1934

PART I.

Preliminary and General.

Short title and commencement.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Town and Regional Planning Act, 1934.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as shall be fixed in that behalf by order made by the Minister under this section.

Definitions.

2. —(1) In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health;

the expression “reserved function” has in relation to the county borough of Dublin and the borough of Dun Laoghaire respectively the same meaning as it has in the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 (No. 27 of 1930), and in relation to the county borough of Cork the same meaning as it has in the Cork City Management Act, 1929 (No. 1 of 1929);

the expression “planning authority” includes both a district planning authority and a regional planning authority;

the expression “district planning scheme” means a planning scheme made by a district planning authority for the whole or any part of their planning district;

the expression “regional planning scheme” means a planning scheme made by a regional planning authority for the whole or any part of their planning region;

the expression “special permission” means a permission granted under this Act by a planning authority (or the Minister on appeal) for the construction, demolition, alteration, extension, repair, or renewal of a particular structure;

the expression “general permission” means a permission granted under this Act by a planning authority (or the Minister on appeal) for the construction, demolition, alteration, extension, repair, or renewal of all structures of a particular class or classes in a particular area or part of an area;

the expression “special prohibition” means a prohibition made under this Act by a planning authority prohibiting, whether absolutely or subject to conditions, the further proceeding with the construction, demolition, alteration, extension, repair, or renewal of a particular structure;

the expression “statutory undertaker” means a person authorised by a British Statute or an Act of the Oireachtas or an order having statutory force to construct, work, or carry on a railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, tramway, gas, electricity, or other public undertaking;

the word “structure” means any building, erection, structure, excavation, or other thing constructed, erected, or made on, in, or under any land and, where the context so admits, includes the land on, in, or under which the structure is situate;

the word “work” includes any act or operation of construction, demolition, extension, alteration, repair, or renewal;

the word “road” means any road whether public or private;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

(2) For the purposes of this Act each of the following bodies shall be a local authority, that is to say:—

(a) the council of a county borough,

(b) the council of a county,

(c) the council of a borough,

(d) the council of an urban district,

(e) a joint committee of any two or more of the said councils,

(f) a board of public health,

(g) a board of health and public assistance,

(h) any joint board formed under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.

(3) For the purposes of this Act the placing or keeping on any land of any shed, van, tent, or other object (whether fixed or movable or collapsible) which is not a structure shall be a use of such land.

General definition of planning scheme.

3. —For the purposes of this Act, a planning scheme shall be taken to be a scheme made in accordance with this Act for the general purpose of securing the orderly and progressive development of a particular area, whether urban or rural, in the best interests of the community and of preserving, improving, and extending the amenities of such area.

The relevant date for the purposes of this Act.

4. —(1) Save as is otherwise provided by this section, the relevant date for the purposes of this Act in respect of a planning scheme or of any particular provision contained in a planning scheme shall be the date on which the planning authority by whom such planning scheme was made passed the resolution for the making of such planning scheme.

(2) Where a planning scheme (hereinafter referred to as “the subsequent scheme”) amends or wholly or partially revokes another planning scheme (hereinafter referred to as “the original scheme”), the relevant date for the purposes of this Act in respect of any provision contained in the subsequent scheme which is identical or substantially identical with a provision contained in the original scheme and revoked by the subsequent scheme shall (subject to any provision to the contrary made under the next following sub-section of this section) be the date which was the relevant date in respect of the said provision contained in the original scheme.

(3) A planning scheme may provide that the date which would, under the foregoing provisions of this section, be the relevant date for the purposes of this Act in respect of such scheme or of any particular provision contained in such scheme shall not be the relevant date in respect of such scheme or such provision (as the case may be), and that in lieu thereof any later date specified in that behalf in such scheme shall be the relevant date for the purposes of this Act in respect of such scheme or such provision, as the case may be.

(4) In this Act the expression “the relevant date” means the date which is fixed by or under this section to be the relevant date in respect of the planning scheme or the provision in relation to which the expression is used.

Appointment of officers by local authorities.

5. —Any local authority may, subject to the provisions of any enactment relating to the appointment of officers by such local authority, appoint such and so many officers as it shall consider requisite for the execution of the functions, powers, and duties conferred or imposed by this Act, and every officer so appointed shall be paid such remuneration as such local authority shall, with the consent of the Minister determine.

Public inquiries.

6. —(1) Whenever power is conferred on the Minister by this Act to make, approve of, confirm, or consent to any planning scheme, order, or regulation, to consent to any matter, to determine any appeal, difference, dispute, or other matter, or to take any other action, the Minister may before exercising such power hold a public inquiry into the matter which is the subject of such exercise of such power.

(2) Article 32 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, shall apply in respect of every public inquiry held under this section or any other section of this Act in like manner as the said Article applies in respect of the local inquiries therein mentioned.

General regulations.

7. —(1) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Every regulation made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.

Service of notices.

8. —(1) Where a notice is required by this Act or by a planning scheme to be given to a person, such notice shall be addressed to such person and shall be given to such person in some one of the following ways, that is to say:—

(a) where such notice is addressed to such person by name, by delivering it to such person;

(b) by leaving it at the address at which such person ordinarily resides;

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to such person at the address at which he ordinarily resides;

(d) where the address at which such person ordinarily resides cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry and such notice is so required to be given in respect of any land or premises, by delivering it to some person over sixteen years of age resident or employed on such land or premises or by affixing it in a conspicious position on such land or premises.

(2) Where a notice is required by this Act or by a planning scheme to be given to the owner or to the occupier of any land or premises and the name of such owner or of such occupier (as the case may be) cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry, such notice may be addressed to “the owner” or “the occupier” (as the case may require) without naming him.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a company registered under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1924, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

Furnishing of lists by inspectors of taxes.

9. —(1) Whenever a planning authority or a responsible authority is required by or under this Act or a planning scheme to serve notices on the owners of property, such authority may require the inspector of taxes in whose district such property is situate to furnish to such authority a list of the names and addresses of all owners and occupiers of property shown in the assessments to income tax under Schedule A of the Income Tax Act, 1918 (as amended by subsequent enactments), last made before a specified date in a specified area which is within the district of such inspector and within the functional area of such authority.

(2) An inspector of taxes may charge for any list of names and addresses furnished by him in pursuance of this section such fee, not exceeding five shillings for every hundred entries separately numbered, as the Revenue Commissioners shall direct, and the payment of such fee by the planning authority or responsible authority requiring such list shall be a condition precedent to the furnishing of such list.

Obligation to give information to planning or responsible authority.

10. —(1) A planning authority or a responsible authority may, for any purpose arising in relation to the making, enforcement, or carrying out of a planning scheme, by notice in writing require the occupier of any land or structure in the area to which such planning scheme relates or is intended to relate or any person receiving, whether for himself or for another, rent out of any such land or structure to state in writing to such planning authority or responsible authority (as the case may be), within a specified time not less than fourteen days after being so required, particulars of the estate, interest, or right by virtue of which he occupies such land or structure or receives such rent (as the case may be), and the name and address, and the estate, interest, or right (so far as they are known to him) of every person who to his knowledge has any estate or interest in or right over or in respect of such land or structure.

(2) Every person who is required under this section to state in writing any matter or thing to a planning authority or a responsible authority (as the case may be) and either fails so to state such matter or thing within the time appointed under this section or when so stating any such matter or thing makes any statement in writing which is to his knowledge false or misleading in a material respect, shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

Expenses of the Minister in the execution of this Act.

11. —Save as is otherwise provided by this Act all expenses incurred by the Minister in the execution of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Expenses of local authorities in the execution of this Act.

12. —(1) The expenses incurred by a local authority in or in relation to the making or execution of a planning scheme or otherwise in the execution of this Act shall, save as is otherwise provided by or under this Act, be raised—

(a) in the case of a county council, by means of the poor rate equally over such and so many townlands in the county health district in relation to which such expenses were so incurred as the Minister, on the application of such county council, may at any time and from time to time determine, and unless or until the Minister makes any such determination equally over the whole of such county health district, and

(b) in the case of a board of health, by means of the poor rate equally over such and so many townlands in the county health district of such board of health as the Minister, on the application of such board of health, may at any time and from time to time determine, and unless or until the Minister makes any such determination equally over the whole of such county health district, and

(c) in the case of any other local authority, in the manner in which expenses incurred by such local authority under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, are defrayed.

(2) Whenever any expenses are by virtue of this section to be raised by means of the poor rate over the whole of or over any particular townlands in a county health district (in this sub-section referred to as the chargeable area), the Minister may, on the application of the council or board by whom such expenses were or are to be incurred, direct that such expenses shall not be raised equally over the whole of the chargeable area but shall, as between specified townlands in the chargeable area, be raised in such proportions as the Minister shall think proper to specify, and thereupon such expenses shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this section, be raised in accordance with such direction.

Payment of expenses by a statutory undertaker.

13. —Any statutory undertaker may agree to pay and may pay to a planning authority all or any part of the expenses incurred by such planning authority in or in relation to the making of a planning scheme or to a responsible authority all or any part of the expenses incurred by such responsible authority in or in relation to the execution of a planning scheme.

Borrowing by local authorities.

14. —(1) The council of a county may borrow under Article 22 of the Schedule to the Local Government (Application of Enactments) Order, 1898, for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred by such council or by a planning authority partly appointed by such council in the making or execution of a planning scheme or otherwise in the execution of this Act in like manner as if such purpose were mentioned in that Article and money borrowed for any such purpose shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of such council for the purposes of any limitation on borrowing imposed by the said Article.

(2) The council of a county borough, a borough, or an urban district or the board of health for a county health district may borrow under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931, for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred by such council or board or by a planning authority partly appointed by such council in the making or execution of a planning scheme or otherwise in the execution of this Act as if such purpose were a purpose for which such council or board is authorised to borrow under those Acts, but money borrowed for any such purpose shall not be reckoned as part of the debt of such council or board for the purposes of any limitation on borrowing imposed by those Acts.

Protection of statutory undertakers.

15. —(1) No provision contained in a planning scheme shall apply to any land or to any structure on, in, or under any land which is at the relevant date occupied by a statutory undertaker for the purposes of his undertaking so long as such land or structure continues to be so occupied, unless or save in so far as either such statutory undertaker consents under this section to the application of such provision to such land or structure or the Minister by order made under this section directs that such provision shall apply to such land or structure.

(2) A planning authority by whom a planning scheme has been or is being made or the responsible authority under a planning scheme may request any statutory undertaker, who on the relevant date occupies for the purposes of his undertaking any land in the area to which such planning scheme relates or is intended to relate, to consent to the application of any provision in such planning scheme to such land or to any structure on, in, or under such land.

(3) Where any such request as is mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section has been made by a planning authority or a responsible authority to a statutory undertaker and such statutory undertaker does not, within two months after the making of such request, either give or refuse the consent mentioned in such request, such statutory undertaker shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to have given such consent at the expiration of the said period of two months.

(4) Where any such request as aforesaid made by a planning authority or a responsible authority to a statutory undertaker is refused by such statutory undertaker within two months after the making of such request, such planning authority or such responsible authority (as the case may be) may appeal to the Minister against such refusal, and on such appeal the Minister may, if he is of opinion that such refusal is unreasonable, by order declare that the provision the subject of such request shall apply or, where the planning scheme has not been made, may be applied to the land or structure mentioned in such request either, as the Minister shall think proper, without restriction or to such limited extent or subject to such conditions as the Minister shall think proper to specify in such order.

(5) Before making an order under this section in relation to any land or to any structure on, in, or under any land occupied for the purposes of a railway, canal, inland navigation, dock, harbour, tramway, gas, or electricity undertaking, the Minister shall consult with the Minister for Industry and Commerce in regard to such order.

(6) Whenever any land or structure in the area to which a planning scheme relates is at the relevant date occupied by a statutory undertaker for the purposes of his undertaking, and ceases at any time after the relevant date to be occupied by such statutory undertaker for such purposes, and either such statutory undertaker has not given the consent mentioned in this section or the Minister has not made an order under this section, every provision contained in such planning scheme which would have applied to such land or structure if it were not so occupied by such statutory undertaker shall, immediately upon such cesser, apply to such land or structure but with the modification that the date of such cesser shall be the relevant date in respect of such land or structure.

Provisions in relation to State property.

16. —(1) Any Minister or statutory board having control of land to which this section applies may, if and so far as he or they so thinks or think proper having regard to the purposes for which such land is under his or their control and to his or their primary duty in regard thereto, co-operate with a planning authority or a responsible authority with a view to securing that such land shall be so used and maintained as to conform with the general objects or any particular object of a planning scheme, and may, where he or they so thinks or think proper, enter into an agreement with such planning authority or responsible authority for the purpose of providing for such co-operation and for financial and other matters consequential thereon or incidental thereto.

(2) Where, in the case of land to which Article 11 of the Constitution applies, the making of leases of such land or, in the case of any other land to which this section applies, the alienation of such land by a Minister or a statutory board is subject to the sanction, consent, or approval of the Minister for Finance, no agreement shall be made under this section in regard to such land without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(3) This section applies to all land which belongs to Saorstát Eireann by virtue of Article 11 of the Constitution and to all land which for the time being is state property or is vested in any Minister or statutory board whether by statute, purchase, gift, or otherwise.

(4) In this section the word “land” includes structure, and the expression “statutory board” means a board of commissioners or other board or body established by statute or statutory order and exercising any function of government or discharging any public duties in relation to public administration throughout Saorstát Eireann.