06/03/24
RSUA recently responded to the DfI consultation on the review of The Planning (Development Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. This is part of the department’s work to make improvements to the planning system, following on from several critical reports.
This consultation focused on three areas: reviewing the change of classifications, changes to the community consultation process and potential changes to pre-determination hearings.
RSUA have highlighted the fact that changes of classifications will have minimal impact on real improvement to the planning system, and instead there should be a greater focus on securing the resources and expertise, to ensure that applications are dealt with efficiently and quickly. With respect community consultation RSUA wish to see a continuation of the ‘blended’ approach of online and in-person consultation, which has worked successfully to date and improved engagement between applicants and stakeholders. Lastly, RSUA highlighted that pre-determination hearings are an important part of the application process and while there is scope for councils to have some discretion, it is important mechanisms remain which ensure people have a voice. However, RSUA accept that material planning considerations should be at the heart of this, and not delay applications for spurious reasons.
The full consultation paper can be found here Consultation on the review of The Planning (Development Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 | Department for Infrastructure (infrastructure-ni.gov.uk)
