Two or more municipalities
A Regional plan is a development plan created by two or more municipalities concerning:
The plan must cover an area that forms a cohesive entity geographically, economically and socially, and can therefore encompass entire regions or other larger territorial units.
A Regional plan is mandatory for the for the capital area, but in other parts of the country, regional planning is optional.
Development
Regional planning committee
Where a regional plan is to be developed, the local authorities concerned shall establish a joint regional planning committee. This committee is responsible for the preparations, presentation and processing of the plan, under the authority of the participating municipal councils.
A regional planning committee must also operate where a regional plan is already in effect. The committee carries out the implementation and amendments of the regional plan and shall, at the beginning of each electoral term, assess whether there is cause for a revision of the existing plan.
Approval
A regional plan requires the approval of all participating municipal councils and must be confirmed by HMS.
Cost
The cost of preparing a regional plan is shared equally between the involved municipalities and the Planning Fund, or, Skipulagssjóður. An application for funding can be accessed on the HMS Service pages. Please note that the application is in Icelandic.
Process
At the beginning of the regional planning process, the local authorities of the municipalities concerned appoint a regional planning committee. This committee prepares a project description for the regional planning project, outlining the rationale and key focus areas of the planning work as well as the proposed methodology for developing the plan.
The project description must be approved by the municipal councils of the participating municipalities.
The description is then presented publicly, where the public is given the opportunity to submit comments and suggestions to the regional planning committee via Skipulagsgátt, planning portal. At the same time, consultation is sought from the National Planning Agency and other relevant consulting parties.
The Regional Planning Committee prepares a proposal for a regional plan in accordance with the description of the planning project, taking into account the input received from the public and consulting parties at earlier stages.
Environmental assessment is conducted, and the findings of that assessment used in the final formulation of the planning proposal. The planning proposal must be developed in consultation with residents and other stakeholders.
The Committee completes the proposal.
Proposal is approved by the participating municipalities
Proposal is submitted to HMS for review.
The planning proposal is then formally advertised, where the public is given an opportunity to submit comments through Skipulagsgátt, planning portal.
The Regional Planning Committee responds to comments received during the public consultation on the regional plan proposal and finalises the plan accordingly.
A regional plan becomes effective once it has been approved by the municipal councils concerned and confirmed by HMS.
The final documents and decisions are published on Skipulagsgátt, planning portal.
