The Plan is being prepared against the background of regeneration and recovery in
the Metropolitan Area during the 1980s and 1990s. The Belfast Urban Area (BUA)
Plan 2001 and development plans prepared for Carrickfergus, Lisburn,
Newtownabbey and North Down Districts provided planning frameworks for
reversing the substantial decline in population and economic activity in the urban
area as a whole during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Between 1971 and 1981, Belfast City Council area alone lost a quarter of
its population. In the BUA (excluding Bangor and Carrickfergus) the number of jobs
fell over the period from the mid 1960s to the 1980s, and all sectors of the
urban economy – manufacturing, construction and service sectors –
underperformed. Unemployment in the BUA increased significantly during this period.

The early 1980s showed signs of recovery. The rate of outmigration from the
urban area began to fall and a range of special measures contributed to
increasing private investment. Investment by the public sector in
infrastructure contributed to improving quality of life and economic prospects.

The planning framework, established by the BUA Plan 2001 sought to build on
this recovery. The Plan was based on the premise that decline was not inevitable.
It took an optimistic view of the future, and sought to provide the basis
for a sustained recovery of the urban area.

The BUA Plan 2001 aimed to reduce the rate of decline in population and ultimately
to reverse it. It allocated land to facilitate increased house building to enable
people to stay in the urban area. The strategy for allocating housing land struck
a balance between a controlled release of greenfield land at the periphery, and
the reuse of land within the existing urban area. Release of peripheral greenfield
lands was phased in order to promote house building in inner areas.

In order to underpin economic growth, lands were zoned for employment uses
in a wide range of locations. Planning policies supported the continued regeneration
of Belfast City Centre, and major new investment opportunities were identified
along the Lagan and in the Northside of the City Centre. The emphasis on
stimulating investment in these areas reflected the strategy to generate
employment in central locations accessible to all sections of the urban population.

Government supported the drive to encourage private development by
major investment in public infrastructure projects, including the construction of
the Cross-Harbour road and rail bridges. These measures were designed to provide
a platform for renewed economic growth in the City and wider urban area, building
on the recovery of the early 1980s.

Improvement in the environment was a major element in the strategy designed
to improve the quality of life for people and to promote economic and
social regeneration. The strategy aimed for a comprehensive improvement to
the physical environment by policies for the conservation of the built and
natural heritage, the River Lagan, landscape and recreation, and by the creation
of a Green Belt to protect the setting of the urban area.

The planning framework provided by the BUA Plan 2001 provided land use and
planning policy support for the regeneration and renewal of Belfast City and
for development in the adjoining Boroughs of Castlereagh and Newtownabbey. In
the Boroughs of Bangor, Carrickfergus and Lisburn, Area Plans allocated land
for development including housing and employment to provide for growth in
population and economic activity, social progress, and improvement in the quality
of life in the outer areas of the conurbation. These provisions complemented
the Strategy in the BUA Plan 2001 for the regeneration of the inner areas of
the conurbation, providing an overall planning framework for the future development
of the Metropolitan Area.

Considerable progress has been made in regeneration and recovery. The
planning framework developed during the 1980s has provided the platform
for expansion in housebuilding, investment by both private and public sectors,
growth in economic activity and improvement in the environment of the
Metropolitan Area.

In looking forward to 2025, the RDS provides a vision of a future BMA which seeks
to sustain and build on the progress achieved in recent decades. The vision is of:

‘an area with a thriving retail, service, administrative, cultural, entertainment, health and educational centre in the City of Belfast, with important complementary employment and services centres in the adjoining suburban districts of Castlereagh and Newtownabbey, and in the towns of Bangor, Carrickfergus and Lisburn’.

The Plan has a significant role to play in achieving the vision through the
Plan Strategy and Plan Proposals designed to give effect to the Strategic
Objectives and Strategic Planning Guidelines contained in the RDS.

Guiding Principles

Within the policy context as set out in Part 1 and in particular within the
overarching principle of seeking sustainable forms of development, Guiding
Principles have been formed, which have shaped the future Strategy for the BMA
up to 2015. The Principles are interrelated and cover social, environmental,
economic and transportation considerations as well as the need for
effective participation. They were set out in the Plan Issues Paper and
received widespread public endorsement. The Principles are set out in full in
Appendix 4 and can be summarised as follows:

• to promote equality of opportunity and social progress for the benefit of
  the whole community;
• to facilitate sustainable economic growth;
• to ensure effective protection of the environment;
• to promote an integrated approach between transportation and land
   use; and
• to promote effective participation.