Deputy Planning Regulator Appointed

Anne Marie O’Connor has been appointed to the position of Deputy Regulator and Director of Evaluations of Local Authority Plans at the Office of the Planning Regulator.

She will be responsible for the assessment of all local authority development plans, local area plans, and variations to these, and any future reviews or amendments of regional spatial and economic strategies.  The purpose of these assessments is to ensure that the plans are consistent with regional and national policies and objectives, and to provide for proper planning and sustainable development.

Anne Marie has more than 20 years’ experience as a planner in both the public and private sectors.  Before joining the OPR in 2020, Anne Marie was the Assistant Director of Planning in Bord Pleanála where she was responsible for the management and oversight of planning appeals, and most recently led the Strategic Infrastructure Development and Environment team. Prior to that role she was a Senior Planning Inspector with the Board. She has also worked as a planner in planning authorities in the UK, and in the private sector in both Ireland and the UK.

In addition to a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from UCD (1996), Anne Marie holds a primary degree in Economics (UCD, 1994), a MA in Public Management (IPA, 2013), and diplomas in EIA and SEA Management (UCD 2010), and Planning and Environmental Law (Kings Inn, 2019). Anne Marie is a member of the Irish Planning Institute.