RSUA Local Group meets with Causeway Council Planners

30/01/2025

Today, members of the RSUA Causeway Coast & Glens Local Group met with Denise Dickson, Head of Planning at Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council (CC&GBC), to discuss issues and concerns related to the planning process in the area.

CC&GBC Internal Communication

RSUA members highlighted a lack of communication between the Council’s Case Officers and Planning Officers, leading to delays and impacting communication with architects. They recommended clearer communication protocols be included in official Council policies. RSUA members also stated that Senior Planning Officers must meet more frequently with Case Officers to determine the direction of an application before it begins.

The Council replied that it has introduced an early-stage review to improve communication and provide clearer direction, with plans to roll it out fully soon.

RSUA members further emphasised that application files must be consistently cycled within the Council, as many applications are paused due to not being reviewed for weeks.

CC&GBC responded that it is processing applications over a year old and holding frequent meetings with Senior Planning Officers, while new fortnightly meetings with Case Officers are intended to improve communication and prevent delays. Major applications are reviewed monthly. CC&GBC also reported recruitment and training efforts are helping to reduce caseloads.

For more complex applications, Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) will be used. At the Pre-Application Discussion (PAD) stage, a PPA will be drawn up to outline the various stages of the process. The Council will review these agreements as needed.

CC&GBC External Communication

RSUA members advised CC&GBC to be clear and direct in its communication with architects. If any issues are unclear, a meeting should be called to resolve them.

The Council agreed and is also hiring an ecology specialist to liaise with consultees. As caseloads decrease, CC&GBC hopes Senior Planning Officers will expedite applications.

The Council also concurred that unanswered inquiries are unacceptable and will consider customer service training for new staff to ensure timely and effective responses.

CC&GBC Decision-Making

RSUA members raised that if an application is scheduled for refusal by CC&GBC, a decision can be made within days, whereas if an application is to be approved, it can sit for weeks waiting on a Senior Planning Officer to prepare the reports and issue the approval.

CC&GBC stated that Planning Committee decisions must be delayed for five days, meaning applications cannot be issued immediately. Officials explained the only bottleneck occurs when there are too many applications, preventing Senior Planning Officers from reviewing them on time.

However, the Council stated that Senior Planning Officers are also supporting other teams to ensure decisions are made as promptly as possible.

NI Water

From this month, CC&GBC is one of three councils piloting the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Standing Advice for consultations on single rural dwellings with septic tanks not connected to public infrastructure. Once implemented, NI Water will no longer need to be consulted on these applications.

However, RSUA members noted that this approach does not address the main challenges pertaining to a lack of waste water infrastructure, as the pressure is greatest on housing and commercial developments.

For these applications, CC&GBC advises attaching any relevant correspondence with NI Water during the validation stage to show active engagement.

Furthermore, if NI Water identifies a potential solution but a formal report by a solutions engineer has not yet been agreed, CC&GBC stated that, provided a broad agreement with NI Water is in place, the Council will proceed with an approval subject to a negative condition, allowing for final engagement with NI Water before a building is occupied.

Other Items

• CC&GBC is drafting a new Planning Application Validation Checklist. The document is subject to a public questionnaire, which is accepting responses until 24 April 2025.

• The Council will produce a report detailing the reasons for all invalid applications based on its current Checklist so far, which will be made available on its website.

• RSUA members and the Council agree that delaying planning processes for full bat surveys (only conducted between May and September) is not viable, and the four applicants whose submissions were rejected for missing surveys will be encouraged to resubmit with a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA).

• CC&GBC is open to creating a quality threshold template for planning statements to help resolve the issue of the Council spending valuable time on considering all submissions, including those from underqualified individuals.

• CC&GBC is now engaging in PADs, with eight received so far under the new process. The Council still needs to go through formal application procedures, which will include input from consultees.

The RSUA Causeway Coast & Glens Local Group will meet with CC&GBC again to discuss planning on Wednesday, 2 April 2025. If you are an RSUA member and would like to attend, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk