Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 Draft Plan

Latest news about the Plan: Information in connection with Public Inquiry
22 April 2008.

Background

The draft Ards and Down Area Plan was prepared under Part III of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 and was published in December 2002. Anyone wishing to object to any of the policies or proposals contained in the Plan was invited to do so before the 21st January 2003.

Following receipt of objections a notice, explaining that these could be inspected from 30th June 2003 to 8th August 2003 and inviting written comments to be received by the Department before 15th August 2003, was advertised in June 2003. That notice also stated the Department's intention to cause a Public Local Inquiry to be held by the Planning Appeals Commission for the purposes of considering objections to the Draft Plan and that relevant details would be advertised in due course.

The Public Inquiry

The Public Inquiry into the draft Ards and Down Area Plan opened on Tuesday 3rd May 2005 in the Queen's Hall, West Street, Newtownards. The Planning Appeals Commission formally closed the Public Inquiry on Wednesday 17th January 2007.

Following this Public Inquiry

The Department has now received the PAC Report on the Public Inquiry. Planning Service is now considering the implications of the report in consultation with consultees and will shortly provide guidance on a possible date for adoption. This depends on the nature of the PAC recommendations on each objection. It is not possible to provide a firm indication on timescales at this stage but the intention is to complete the adoption stage as quickly as possible.

The PAC Report can only be made available by the Department when it completes the adoption process and publishes the adopted plan, with or without modifications. The content of the PAC Report is confidential until that time.

The Department will publish a Statement with the Adopted Plan outlining the decisions that it has reached, in light of the report and any recommendations contained in it, together with reasons for those decisions.

Draft Plan documentation

Document	Details
Draft Ards and Down Area Plan 2015	html
Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 Public Consultation Exercise	235 KB
Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 - Issues Paper	3,309 KB
Housing Distribution Settlement Booklets	html
Housing Needs Assessment	2.23MB
Objections List	PAC Website

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