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What’s the plan?
DAVID FRY, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT CEF CALLS FOR 2011 PLANNING ACT REVIEW TO DELIVER A PLANNING SYSTEM THAT IS FIT FOR PURPOSE IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE...
A lthough not something how we can best stimulate our economic recovery, the forthcoming review of the implementation of the 2011 Planning Act in Northern Ireland will be of significant importance. Passed into law some nine years ago - with the bulk of its effect coming into force with the transfer of the majority of planning powers to local councils in 2015 - there has been a significant period in which we have judged its effectiveness and that of its associated development management regulations and practice notes in delivering a responsive and effective planning service. It is therefore welcome that Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon MLA has necessarily at the forefront of people’s minds as we consider confirmed that a review is to be taken forward before the end of 2020 – but
what are the areas this review should consider and what reforms could be taken forward to enable development? TIMESCALES AND ROLE OF STATUTORY CONSULTEES When we look at the statistics that underpin our two-tier planning system - chiefly the processing times for regionally significant, major and local planning applications - the five-year period that has passed has resulted in little tangible, positive change in processing and approval timescales. At the outset, this was put down by many to planning applications inherited from the then DoE,
lack of resources, the Voluntary Exit Scheme and challenges within councils regarding quickly adapting to their new powers. Looking at this five years’ later, it is abundantly clear that resource challenges
David Fry, Executive Assistant Director at CEF.
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