The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has launched (20 December 2022) a new online resource explaining the three key stages of the planning application process.

Some of our members may find this new resource helpful when working to explain to prospective applicants for planning permission, the various stages involved in the planning application process including the timelines and processes involved from the project inception stage to the decisions/appeals stage. As you will note from the webpages below, the information contained relates to a standard application for planning permission.

These stages are identified as the ‘Pre-Application Consultation’ stage, the ‘Planning Application’ stage and the ‘Planning Decisions and Appeals’ stage.

This new resource is entitled ‘The Planning Process’ and contains animated explainer videos, flowcharts, links to planning authority online resources and planning leaflets.

The resource has been designed and developed to help prospective applicants for planning permission to navigate their way through the planning application process. (The Office of the Planning Regulator recommends that for more complex development proposals, applicants should seek advice from their local planning authority).

You can access the new resource via the following link: https://www.opr.ie/planning-process/.

About the Office of the Planning Regulator: This Office was established in April 2019 on foot of recommendations made by the Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments (the Mahon Tribunal).  Its role is to ensure that local authorities and An Bord Pleanála support and implement Government planning policy. The organisation also implements planning research, training and public awareness in order to promote the public’s engagement in the planning process and to enhance knowledge and public information about planning in Ireland.