Pre-Draft Consultation: Rathmichael Local Area Plan
Welcome to the homepage for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council's Pre-Draft Consultation for a Rathmichael Local Area Plan (LAP).
Frequently Accessed
Preparation of a Local Area Plan for Rathmichael: Pre-Draft Stage
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is preparing a Local Area Plan (LAP) for the Rathmichael area.
A Local Area Plan is a statutory planning document prepared by the Local Authority in accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). A Local Area Plan consists of a suite of policies and objectives for an area, intended to guide the area’s development for a period of 6 years, which may be extended to a maximum of 10 years if appropriate.
Stages of Making a Local Area Plan
The plan-making process can involve up to three stages of public consultation:
- Pre-Draft Stage (we are at this stage),
- Draft Plan Stage; and, potentially,
- Proposed Material Amendment’s Stage.
The process and timeline for preparing a Local Area Plan is governed by the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended). The stages and timeframes for the statutory plan-making process are illustrated in the graphic below:
Pre-Draft Consultation
The pre-draft consultation stage ran from 4th April 2025 to 9th May 2025 during which there were two public information drop in days.
To help inform pre-draft consultation, the Planning Department prepared:
- A Story Map which provided context for the area and the plan-making process, and
- An Issues Paper which pulls together baseline information by way of a study of various themes relevant to the area.
The Planning Authority would like to thank everyone who took the time to prepare and submit a submission / observation and who attended the drop in days.
We received a total of 191 submissions.
Next Steps
The Planning Authority will now prepare a Draft Local Area Plan for Rathmichael.
The Draft Local Area Plan will be informed by a myriad of plans and policies at national, regional and local level. The diagram below sets out the statutory planning hierarchy whereby a LAP sites below the County Development Plan:
In addition to overarching policy, the Draft Plan will be informed by issues raised through the Pre-Draft Consultation and a series of background studies / assessments including, but not limited to:
- Infrastructure Capacity Assessment Study (ICAS)
- Area Based Transport Assessment (ABTA)
- Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA)
- Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
- Appropriate Assessment (AA)
Once prepared, the Draft Local Area Plan will be placed on public display for a further period of public consultation (as illustrated in the LAP Stages Diagram above).
Issues raised in submissions at the Draft stage, together with the Chief Executive’s recommendation will then be presented to the Elected Members for their consideration. This Report will also be published online. The Elected Members will then consider the Report and adopt, amend, or reject the Draft Local Area Plan.
If Material Alterations to the Draft Local Area Plan are proposed they must go on public display for a further period of not less than four weeks. The Elected Members would then have a further period of time to consider a Chief Executive’s Report on the proposed material alterations.
The Plan would then be adopted with or without the material alterations.
Pre-Draft Issues Paper & Map Booklet
FAQ
A Local Area Plan (LAP) is a statutory document prepared by the Local Authority in accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended).
A LAP consists of a suite of policies and objectives to guide the development of an area for a period of 6 years. A LAP sets out a land use strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development an area and consists of a written statement and maps indicating:
- objectives for the zoning of land for the use solely or primarily of particular areas for particular purposes, or
- other objectives in such detail as may be determined by the Planning Authority for the proper planning and sustainable development of the area to which it applies, including the objective of development of land on a phased basis and, detail on community facilities and amenities and on standards for the design of developments and structures.
Yes. A hard copy of the Issues Paper can be viewed at the following locations:
- Dundrum Council Offices,
- County Hall, Dún Laoghaire, and
- In all dlr library branches.
In the event that your query isn't addressed on this webpage, you can email us at: dlrforwardplanning@dlrcoco.ie
The list of FAQs do not purport to be a legal interpretation of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) and are simply for information purposes.
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