Since the late 1990's the outline planning application has all but disappeared. However, the economic downturn could see an increase in its popularity, as developers seek more affordable ways of testing their proposals in the Development Management system.
Outline Planning Applications are used primarily to test the principle of a proposed development. They tend to require much less detailed design input from Architects as they are concerned more with whether a form of development is appropriate at a specified location.
The fall in popularity of the outline planning permission is partly because of a legacy of a number of court cases under previous legislation. Essentially, at Approval stage permission could be refused on a matter previously agreed at outline stage. As a result many choose the Full Planning Application as the safer approach.
However, under the 2000 Planning and Development Act, any matter agreed at the outline permission stage cannot be revisited at the approval stage including during appeal.
The imperative of proper planning and sustainable development, orders of priority and sequential planning, and capacity of waste water treatment plants mean that even if land is zoned, it may not have a perceived right to planning permission. The benefits of outline permission are more important now than they ever were. Banks, receivers and most probably Nama (the 'new developers') will be keen to reduce the costs associated with making planning applications and as a result, reduce the cost of risk.
The outline permission allows an applicant to explore issues of principle. In their purest form these issues could include the capacity of the local Waste Water Treatment Plant to cater for the number of units proposed or whether the site is a suitable location for a new retail development. But other matters, such as layout and density, can also be explored.
In these times of greater austerity and reduction of risk, perhaps it is time we rediscovered the art of the outline planning application.
