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PlanningBrief Ireland project leads and business signals

Planning glossary

How Irish planning works.

Plain-English explainers for the planning terms that appear in Irish project leads, appeals, tenders and building-control records.

Large-scale Residential Development (LRD)

An LRD is the Irish planning route for larger residential schemes handled by local authorities with appeal access to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Strategic Housing Development (SHD)

SHD was the older fast-track route for major housing schemes. It has been replaced by the LRD process, but SHD wording still matters when reading historic ACP files, older permissions, appeals, judicial-review histories and replacement applications.

Part 8 Local Authority Development

Part 8 is the process local authorities use for their own public works, civic buildings, housing, roads and amenity projects.

Commencement Notice

A commencement notice is the building-control notification made before many works begin. It is one of the clearest public signals that a permission is moving from paperwork toward site activity.

Exempted Development

Exempted development is work that may not need planning permission if it stays within legal limits and conditions. Always verify against the local authority or professional advice.

Section 5 Declaration

A Section 5 declaration asks a planning authority whether a proposal is or is not development, or is or is not exempted development.

An Coimisiún Pleanála Appeal

An ACP appeal can change, confirm or overturn a local-authority planning decision. It is one of the strongest signals for professional readers because the project is contested, delayed, redesigned or moving toward a final permission decision.

Live examples

Connect the glossary to current PlanningBrief records.

Use these links when a term is clear in theory but you want to see how it appears in real planning, appeal, tender or commencement data.

Live example

LRD / large residential

See current housing estates, apartment schemes and larger residential permissions.

 Live example

ACP appeals

Read live An Coimisiun Pleanala cases, decisions and matched local planning refs.

 Live example

Commencement notices

Move from planning language to going-to-site signals with builder-named starts.

 Live example

Part 8 and council work

Use council hubs and public tenders to follow local-authority project activity.