Beggs highlights Planning Management Board referral farce

Roy Beggs MLA, Ulster Unionist Spokesman on the Environment, who obtained details of the outcomes of planning applications that have been referred to the central Planning Services Management Board has labelled the scheme a farce as a result of the board ignoring the views expressed by local councils.

Roy Beggs said, "It is astonishing that when democratically elected Councils refer hundreds of planning decisions to the Management Board for the democratic concerns to be taken into consideration, that the Planning Services Management Board virtually ignores them. This is putting into question the worth of the Management Board referral scheme. This is especially surprising when planning decisions are to be return to local government under the RPA proposals".

Roy Beggs said, "It is surprising that of the 44 planning applications passed by democratically Council elections for review last year, none of those recommendations were reversed by the Planning Service. Indeed 36 of the applications were not even considered by the Management Board as result of the strict criteria that have been applied by the Planning Service".

"This has meant that the Planning Service has become more and more aloof from the views of local Councils, Councillors who reflect the concern of the general public. The intention of RPA reforms was to make decision making more democratically accountable. Clearly at present the Planning Service is going in the opposite direction and there is a need to redress this".