Last Wednesday, three members of the RSUA Causeway Coast and Glens Local Group made a representation at a special meeting of the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council (CCGBC) Planning Committee.
Joining the Chair of the Local Group, Murray Bell of Bell Architects, were Roisin McCann of Marshal McCann Architects and Damien McLaughlin of HERE Architects.
Their appearance followed the second meeting held this year between the RSUA and the Council, which took place on 2 April 2025. Further details can be found here.
This was also RSUA’s second appearance before the Planning Committee, with the first having taken place on 13 February 2025. This can be read about here.
General planning performance
RSUA’s representatives expressed their hope to assist the Council in improving the planning process for all and thanked CCGBC for its ongoing engagement and recent improvements in processing times.
Areas for further improvement were also briefly highlighted, including the slow progress of the Council’s Local Development Plan (LDP), the need for greater involvement of Senior Planning Officers in the early stages of applications, and Murray’s suggestion to introduce a “Post-Application Learning” phase as part of the planning process.
Responding indirectly, Denise Dickson, CCGBC’s Head of Planning, described our previous meetings as “excellent” and provided a general performance update:
NI Water and negative conditions
RSUA previously called for the Council to adopt a flexible approach regarding wastewater capacity constraints by allowing “negative conditions” in planning approvals. This would enable developers to proceed while addressing water connection issues at a later stage.
At RSUA’s meeting with CCGBC in April, the Council reported that NI Water is now proceeding with negative conditions, and applications within problematic areas will no longer result in automatic refusals.
CCGBC sought feedback on the wording of the two negative conditions currently in operation, with the intention of presenting this to other planning sections across Northern Ireland. RSUA’s proposed amendments to these conditions can be found here.
Denise updated RSUA following the meeting of the Development Management Working Group on 16 May 2025, attended by Principal Planning Officers from the 11 councils. Our proposed wording of the two conditions was discussed, along with RSUA’s position on allowing development to proceed to sub-floor level.
However, other councils were reluctant to permit partially commenced developments that might remain unfinished until the NI Water capacity issue is resolved. We will follow this item up with CCGBC at our next meeting on 2 July 2025.
Planning Committee Report template
At our last appearance before the Planning Committee, Murray expressed that the Committee’s reports should be simplified, potentially in a manner similar to those currently issued by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. A motion was carried to look at a possible template.
Denise reported that planners have looked into the matter and that the level of detail in reports will now be determined on a case-by-case basis, bearing in mind that the Council is keen to avoid reprimand for failing to include sufficient information.
If you have any questions or comments about this meeting or would like to join the RSUA Causeway Coast and Glens Local Group for our next meeting with CCGBC on Wednesday 2 July 2025, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk
