Ninety-two per cent of Longford planning applications given green light

The national average grant-rate in 2021 was 88.5%.

In total, there were 289 planning applications approved and 25 refused by Longford County Council in 2021.

Overall in 2021, 2.2% of planning application decisions made by Longford County Council were appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Of these, 42.9% were reversed.

The national average rate of appeal in 2021 was 6.7%, the average reversal rate was 27.7%.

The planning invalidation rate (the percentage of invalidated planning applications as a proportion of all applications made) in Co Longford decreased from 5.9% om 2020 to 5.6% in 2021.

Longford County Council had a total of 44 sites designated by local authorities as either vacant and/or derelict.

This contrasts with the CSO figure for the county of 2,284.

The figures were published last Friday, December 30 by the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) as it published its Annual Overview of the Planning System 2021.

Planning Regulator, Niall Cussen said:

“2021 was a year in which local authorities such as Longford County Council continued to deliver key statutory planning functions within strict timelines and in an operational environment that was challenging due to public health restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid pandemic.

“It is a great credit to the planning process in general that high levels of throughput in handling planning applications and appeals continued despite the pressures.

“While core planning functions continue to experience high volumes of activity, more is also being asked of local authorities.

“2021 was also a year of very significant activity by local authorities in starting to implement funding streams aimed at securing urban and rural regeneration. However, a critical function to such investment will require concerted action on vacant and derelict buildings.

“While core planning functions continue to experience high volumes of activity, more is also being asked of local authorities.”