Modernising planning processes - A Consultation Paper

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MODERNISING PLANNING PROCESSES

A Consultation Paper

Planning Service

Clarence Court

Adelaide Street

BELFAST

February 2002

Foreword

Planning is fundamental to delivering what people in Northern Ireland want- jobs, homes, better transport, lively communities, and sensitive care of the environment we live in. Improving planning means that the goals set out in the Programme for Government are easier to achieve. Good planning will promote appropriate development, not stifle it. It will also bolster productivity and competitiveness. At the same time it will contribute to sustaining and protecting the environment.

The planning system has not changed fundamentally in nearly thirty years. It is showing its age and is under pressure. That is why, since devolution in December 1999, I have worked to strengthen both the Planning Service and the planning system. Additional staff are being recruited and trained, and management structures strengthened. An ambitious programme to put in place an up-to-date and complete suite of Planning Policy Statements and Development Plans is now in place, as set out in the Programme for Government. New legislation is being prepared that, amongst other things, will strengthen the Planning Service's enforcement powers. We have also opened up