08/04/2025
Today, RSUA members met with Mark Hammond, Director of the Natural Environment Division within the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
This session, a follow-up from March 2023, was intended to help members gain a deeper understanding of the NIEA’s role and processes, as well as to explore potential solutions to current issues.
RSUA also reiterated its fundamental position to NIEA that we want to see development that is in harmony with nature.
Performance Update
There has been steady improvement in NIEA’s processing times for applications, with the average turnaround time now reduced from 37 to 22 days since the last time we met. Additionally, 80–90% of applications over a year old have now been cleared.
Mark reported that NIEA was deliberately not working to meet specific statistical targets, as doing so could lead it to prioritise less problematic applications over the most pressing ones.
NIEA also aims to improve the way it informs agents about likely processing times based on the type of application submitted.
Prioritisation of Applications
NIEA currently has no internal rules around prioritisation of applications, but the body is considering working with local councils to determine how this might happen in exceptional circumstances.
Unnecessary Consultations
NIEA has conducted a process review to address the issue of being unnecessarily consulted by planners.
It is now working towards stricter guidelines for consultations, requiring agents to specify their requests and indicate where in the application documents these can be found.
Checklists and Surveys
Mark reported that NIEA occasionally encounters issues with planners either failing to submit the required checklists and surveys or submitting them with inaccuracies.
NIEA is considering the development of a separate form to accompany the biodiversity checklist, aimed at assessing the level of expertise of the individual completing it.
Mark suggested this could potentially save NIEA the time and effort of querying certain responses due to confirmation of professional accreditation, or at the very least enable NIEA to contact the organisation the respondent represents.
A key factor in NIEA being able to review checklists and surveys more quickly is the availability of ecological consultants with expertise in bats, air quality, and noise.
In response, RSUA will aim to compile a list of ecological consultants in Northern Ireland who specialise in these areas.
Standing Advice
NIEA is looking into developing standing advice for local councils which would enable planners to process low-risk applications, particularly for single dwellings, without the need for direct consultation.
Under this arrangement, NIEA would only review the highest-risk applications, thereby improving overall processing times.
Longer-Term Improvements
Looking further ahead, NIEA is considering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a similar way to how it has been adopted by NatureScot, whereby the technology is used to sift through documentation and generate a report with recommendations for the case officer, enabling earlier decision-making on applications.
NIEA has said the approach appears promising, although they have not yet received a formal review from NatureScot on its effectiveness.
Map Update
NIEA will introduce “Living Maps” by the end of the financial year. This new system will identify different types of habitats and highlight whether individual sites are considered “priority”. The new system will also offer higher resolution than the current NIEA Map Viewer application.
If you have any questions or comments about this meeting, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk
