State bodies ‘sucking up planners like a basking shark’, construction conference hears

State bodies like the Land Development Agency are “sucking up” spatial planners “like a basking shark”, a construction industry conference heard on Tuesday, leaving local authorities and the private sector hungry for talent.
Tom Phillips, managing director of Dublin planning consultancy firm Tom Phillips and Associates, told industry figures at the event that planning should be put on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s critical skills to make it easier for companies to hire planners from abroad.
“You can get architects and technicians but you can’t get planners,” Mr Phillips told the Construction Industry Federation’s (CIF’s) annual conference in Croke Park.
He said State bodies like the LDA and the planning regulator, An Bord Pleanála (ABP), are “attracting a lot of planners” away from project management companies and planning consultancy firms.
“The Government is going around like a basking shark, sucking up all the planners,” he said.
Anecdotally, Mr Phillips said local authorities are also struggling to fill out their planning staff.
Last month, Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) warned that a shortage of professional planners at the local authority level is hampering the development of renewable energy.
In the industry lobby group’s pre-budget submission, WEI chief executive Noel Cunniffe said that while recent investments in State agencies such as ABP have improved the speed of decision-making on planning applications, staff shortages remain an issue.
“These organisations, and particularly local authority planning departments, still need more staff with the required expertise to assess an increasing amount of planning applications for critical renewable energy infrastructure like wind and solar farms,” Mr Cunniffe said.
“Giving the planning system the resources it needs to ensure applications for renewable energy and electricity grid infrastructure projects are thoroughly, but quickly, assessed is a vital investment for our future.”
Speaking at the CIF conference on Tuesday, the Government’s top planning adviser said staffing levels at ABP had been “a particular focus” for the Coalition in recent times.
Claragh Mulhern, acting principal planning adviser at the Department of Housing, said the board is dealing with” some of the really large scale projects that are really important from a strategic infrastructure perspective”.
However, she said her department recognises the hunger for talent throughout the system.
“That’s something that we’re already looking at, engaging with our colleagues in the Department of Enterprise in relation to, because it’s a it’s a no-brainer … We’re very keen that not just ABP, but indeed the local authorities are also properly resourced.”