New online e-Planning system to modernise application and submission process

Planning applications and submissions will be soon be able to be made online as part of the new national online e-Planning system.

Meath County Council is currently engaging with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) to progress the implementation of the national online e-Planning system, which aims to modernise the processing and administration of planning applications, improve efficiency in the statutory planning process and deliver on the government strategy to move more public services online.

Using the e-planning portal, members of the public will be able to submit their planning applications and lodge submissions on existing planning applications via the online platform.

The new system will facilitate readily available information, a reduction in the use of paper and ink and associated cost savings, quicker publishing and viewing of E- files and automated email notifications to applicants or third parties using the online service.

The portal has been successfully pilot tested in Tipperary and Galway County Councils last year with approximately 52 per cent of all applications submitted online since the system went live in December 2021.

During 2022, Meath County Council Planning Department received 1,744 planning applications.

The Council is currently engaging in preparatory work and IT upgrades which will be followed with engagement with planning agents, engineers, architects, and technicians who will regularly interact with the Council’s Planning Department and assist with the transition to electronic planning submissions.

The Meath Chronicle recently reported how the Council takes in over 60kg of paper planning applications every month but that the system was due to move online in the coming months doing away with the need for paperwork.

Kells and north Meath Fianna Fail Cllr Paul McCabe welcomed the news that routine planning permission applications are to go online in the coming months, a move that he says will save tonnes of paper on an annual basis.