Plan Area

The Plan relates to the administrative Council Areas of Belfast City, Lisburn
City, Carrickfergus Borough, Castlereagh Borough, Newtownabbey Borough and
North Down Borough. In total this is a Plan Area of approximately 960
square kilometres, with a population of 646,550 (Northern Ireland Census 2001),
which represents approximately 38% of the total population of Northern Ireland.

Table 1 sets out the 2001 Census population for individual Council Areas.

Council Area	2001 Population
Belfast City Lisburn City Carrickfergus Borough Castlereagh Borough Newtownabbey Borough North Down Borough	277,391 108,694   37,659   66,488   79,995   76,323
BMA Total	646,550

Source: Northern Ireland Census, 2001

The Metropolitan Urban Area² lies at the head of Belfast Lough and the lower
reaches of the Lagan Valley and dominates the Plan Area. It has one of the
most striking landscape settings to be found in any Metropolitan Urban Area in
the British Isles, being flanked to the north west by the basalt escarpment
which forms the southern edge of the Antrim Plateau and on the south east by
the more gentle escarpment of the Castlereagh and Holywood Hills. The
Metropolitan Urban Area is the major gateway to Northern Ireland and the
primary administrative, retail and commercial location within the Region. In
recent years it has been the key driver for an improving regional economy and the
RDS states that it will retain a strategic role in the future economic growth
and development of Northern Ireland.

The Metropolitan Rural Area³ contains 76 settlements, including the 6 small towns
of Ballyclare, Carryduff, Greenisland, Hillsborough, Moira, and Whitehead, 23
villages, and 47 small settlements, together with the open countryside.

The Metropolitan Rural Area includes a wide variety of landscapes ranging from
the broad lowland valleys of Newtownabbey to the undulating terrain of
the Castlereagh Hills and it extends from the rolling upland drumlins of Dromara to
the shorelines of Belfast Lough and Lough Neagh. Agriculture continues to be
an important activity within the countryside.

² See Glossary – Appendix 5
³ See Glossary – Appendix 5

The Purpose of the Plan

The purpose of the Plan is to inform the general public, statutory
authorities, developers, and other interested bodies of the policy framework and
land use proposals that will be used to guide development decisions within the
BMA over the Plan period. The Plan will help to give effect to the RDS.

The Plan will also:

• provide an essential framework for guiding investment by public, private and community sectors and help harness additional resources through collaboration in tackling problems;

• provide confidence and context for those wishing to develop and those affected by development proposals;

• establish a framework for positive co-ordination of public policies in joined-up Government at both regional and local levels;

• support the life of the local community and social and economic progress through Plan Proposals; and

• interpret at a local level, planning policies set out in PPSs prepared by the Department, and the Department for Regional Development (DRD).

Plan Aim

To provide a planning framework which is in general conformity with the RDS in facilitating sustainable growth and a high quality of development in the Belfast Metropolitan Area throughout the Plan period, whilst protecting and where appropriate, enhancing the natural and man-made environment of the Plan Area.

Regional Policy Context

Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland 2025 (RDS).

The RDS was agreed by the Northern Ireland Assembly in September 2001. It sets
out an overarching framework for Northern Ireland to help achieve a strong
balanced economy, a healthy environment and an inclusive society. The Plan is required by the Planning (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 to be “in general conformity” with the RDS.

The RDS reflects the international, national and local commitment to a sustainable approach to accommodating growth within Northern Ireland. This principle is firmly established in the European Spatial Development Strategy, which is an important policy framework adopted by member states within the European Union. At national level, the Government has prepared ‘A Better Quality of Life’, a UK-wide strategy for sustainable development.

Against this background and through a process of public consultation, the RDS developed a Shared Vision for Northern Ireland. From this Shared Vision, Guiding Principles were formed and these in turn shaped the Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) and the Strategic Planning Guidelines (SPGs) proposed in the RDS for the Region as a whole. A key component of the SDS is the concept of a BMA which was to be developed as:

“a compact dynamic metropolitan core centred on Belfast, the major 
 regional gateway and focal point of the Regional Strategic Transport 
 Network, balanced by the development of the main towns in the ‘travel
 to work’ hinterland as counter-magnets with significant planned
 expansion of seven small towns close to the Belfast Metropolitan Area”.

The RDS outlines a Spatial Development Strategy for the location of future
growth within the BMA* and its ‘travel to work’ hinterland. It identifies the need
for a balance to be struck between concentration and decentralisation. Expansion
of the BMA* is to be contained and channelled to maintain a compact city
complex and protect the city setting.

This balance is to be achieved by encouraging revitalisation within the
Metropolitan Area* and by provision for major areas of planned lateral expansion
on the key transport corridors at Lisburn and Newtownabbey and on smaller sites
to be identified in the Plan. Outside the Plan Area, decentralisation is to be
achieved through development of the main towns of Antrim, Downpatrick, Larne
and Newtownards in the BMA hinterland, together with the neighbouring main towns
of Banbridge and Craigavon.

Decentralisation is also to be achieved through accommodation of growth related
to the BMA* by the significant planned expansion of the seven small towns
of Ballyclare, Ballynahinch, Carryduff, Comber, Crumlin, Dromore and Moira. Of
these seven towns Ballyclare, Carryduff and Moira are within the Plan Area.

Developing the process to a further stage, the RDS sets out a list of strategic objectives for the BMA* which are the outcomes it seeks to achieve for the area. These are as follows:

• a reinforced role as the regional capital and focus of administration, commerce, specialised services and cultural amenities;

• a stronger role for Belfast as an international city;

• an important complementary role for the City of Lisburn and the Boroughs of Bangor and Carrickfergus maintaining their distinctive identities, and for the suburban districts of Castlereagh and Newtownabbey;

• revitalised Metropolitan Area* maintaining a polycentric pattern of development focused on existing local centres and with a strong emphasis on continuing physical renewal and ‘brownfield’ housing within the existing urban area, to support and sustain existing communities;

• the regeneration of areas of social need;

• a compact Metropolitan Area* with a protected environmental setting and an enhanced quality of urban environment;

• the location of new development to reinforce better integration between land use and transportation; and

• the development of a modern integrated and inclusive transport system.

The Strategic Planning Guidelines (SPGs) for the BMA* provide guidance for the development of the detailed Plan Proposals. The five SPGs for the BMA* are as follows:

• to create a thriving Metropolitan Area* centred on a revitalised city of Belfast (SPG–BMA 1);

• to promote an urban renaissance throughout the Belfast Metropolitan Area* (SPG–BMA 2);

• to develop and enhance the Metropolitan Transport Corridor (MTC) Network (SPG–BMA 3);

• to improve the public transport service in the Belfast Metropolitan Area* (SPG–BMA 4); and

• to manage travel demand within the Belfast Metropolitan Area* (SPG-BMA 5).

The five SPGs for Rural Northern Ireland which apply to the Metropolitan Rural
area are:

• to maintain a working countryside with a strong mixed use rural economy (SPG-RNI 1);

• to create and sustain a living countryside with a high quality of life for all its residents (SPG-RNI 2);

• to support the network of service centres based on the main towns, small towns and villages in Rural Northern Ireland (SPG-RNI 3);

• to create an accessible countryside with a responsive transport network that meets the needs of the rural community (SPG-RNI 4); and

• to continue to create and sustain an attractive and unique rural environment in the interests of the rural community and the Region as a whole (SPG-RNI 5).

*   Where a term is asterisked it refers to the Belfast Metropolitan Area as set out in
    the Regional Development Strategy.

In addition, the RDS sets policy directions in the SPGs for major land uses, which
are significant to the preparation of the Plan. The RDS identifies a clear change
of direction towards more sustainable forms of housing and sets a regional target
of 60% for the location of urban housing growth within urban footprints of the
cities and towns of Northern Ireland with over 5000 population. It recognises
the potential of Belfast to accommodate much more housing within its built up
area (SPG-HOU 4) and promotes greater integration between transportation and
land use.

The SPGs relevant to each land use are identified in the relevant sections of Part 3
of the Plan.