Agenda item

Motion from Councillor Des Guckian - Land Development Agency Bill 2021

I call on Leitrim County Council to make a formal submission to the Minister for Housing, Local Government & Heritage outlining our complete opposition to the proposed provisions of the Land Development Agency Bill 2021.
The proposed removal of the Section 183 reserved function of Elected Members in relation to the disposal of Local Authority held land to the LDA as provided for in Part 7 Section 56 of the bill is unacceptable and an affront to local democracy. As advocates for the empowerment of local government, we can never support or accept any diminution in our reserved functions and powers.

Minutes:

Cathaoirleach, Councillor Mary Bohan proposed that Motion No 18 in the name of Councillor Des Guckian and Motion No 22 in the name of Councillor Sean McGowan be taken concurrently as they relate to the same issue.  Councillor Des Guckian was not agreeable to this request.

 

  To consider the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Des Guckian;

 

"I call on Leitrim County Council to make a formal submission to the Minister for Housing, Local Government & Heritage outlining our complete opposition to the proposed provisions of the Land Development Agency Bill 2021.  The proposed removal of the Section 183 reserved function of Elected Members in relation to the disposal of Local Authority held land to the LDA as provided for in Part 7 Section 56 of the bill is unacceptable and an affront to local democracy. As advocates for the empowerment of local government, we can never support or accept any diminution in our reserved functions and powers."

 

Report by Director of Services, Housing and Community, Corporate Services, Cultural and Emergency Services

 

"The Land Development Agency (LDA) Bill 2021 proposes to establish the Land Development Agency (LDA) on a statutory basis and sets out the core goals of the LDA to undertake strategic land assembly and fully utilise state lands to build affordable homes and sustainable communities. The LDA have indicated that the LDA Bill will provide a legislative grounding for one of its key strategies of partnering and collaborating with local authorities.

The LDA will focus initially on public lands in towns of over 10,000 people. The Bill provides that the LDA will periodically report to Government on public lands which could be suitable for housing or urban development and the Government may direct that such lands be transferred to the LDA. The Bill also provides that the LDA will have first refusal to purchase public lands being put up for sale.

Under the LDA  Bill the Minister for Housing will specify an affordability requirement for the delivery of affordable homes for sale or rent on public lands. This affordability requirement can be varied on sites in different areas depending on local housing needs. The LDA can provide services to local authorities for the development of large scale multi-tenure sites for housing and urban development in urban centres over 30,000. This will assist with the construction of increased social housing on local authority owned sites. The benefits are that the LDA may in the future bring forward land within County Leitrim for the development of Social and Affordable Housing from public bodies that may not have been utilised.

 

The Bill contains a provision relating to local authority land.  Under Part 7, Section 56 provides that Section 211(2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and Section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 shall not apply to the disposal of land owned by a local authority to the Agency.

 

The bill is currently before Dail Eireann - 2nd stage."

 

Councillor Des Guckian gave the background to his motion and said Section 56 of the bill is unacceptable and an affront to local democracy and appealed to Local Government to hold onto this reserved function.

 

Cathaoirleach, Councillor Mary Bohan said that she was in contact with Elected Members from other Local Authorities on this issue and they are all agreeable to holding on to their reserved functions and powers.

 

On the PROPOSAL of Cllr.Des Guckian

            SECONDED by Cllr. Mary Bohan

 

It was AGREED Leitrim County Council to make a formal submission to the Minister for Housing, Local Government & Heritage outlining our complete opposition to the proposed provisions of the Land Development Agency Bill 2021.

The proposed removal of the Section 183 reserved function of Elected Members in relation to the disposal of Local Authority held land to the LDA as provided for in Part 7 Section 56 of the bill is unacceptable and an affront to local democracy. As advocates for the empowerment of local government, we can never support or accept any diminution in our reserved functions and powers."

 

Councillor Des Guckian thanked the Members for their support in this regard.