Planning process delays continuing to grow
MAJOR planning applications are taking almost twice as long to process compared to a year ago.
The latest statistics from the Department for Infrastructure show there were 29 ‘major’ applications between April and June this year, with the process taking on average 67 weeks to complete.
That’s up from an average of 35 weeks during the same peri- od in 2015. According to the department, that is “over 37 weeks longer than the statutory processing time target of 30 weeks”.
Between April and June a total of 3,438 planning applications were received.
That was up by 8.6% on the same quarter a year earlier.
Approval rates for planning applications stood at 94.5% for the period, which is the same as a year earlier.
Planning approval rates varied across councils, with a high of 96.3% in Belfast, closely followed by Lisburn and Castlereagh.
Powers over planning were devolved from the former Department of the Environment to Northern Ireland’s 11 councils back in April 2015.
During the same period Belfast City Council received the highest number of applications, with 474. That was followed by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon on 397.
Antrim and Newtownabbey received the fewest during the same period, with 198. Some of the larger applications to get the goahead this year include several student accommodation de- velopments, and a £55m office building project by property developer Paddy Kearney in Belfast.
Meanwhile, the number of renewable energy applications received fell to its lowest level in more than a decade.
A total of 27 applications were received during the same period, with almost half of those for single wind turbines.
This year, it was announced the Government was ending an incentive scheme for wind farms.