Planning Strategy - The Strategy

The purpose of the Strategy is to contribute to the quality of life in Northern Ireland. The Strategy is an attempt to meet rural society's development needs and aspirations, to protect the environment and to encourage environmentally sustainable
development. A primary principle of the planning system is stewardship of the environment A long term perspective of the community's needs must be taken.

Northern Ireland is a region of great variety and contrast in its communities, landscapes and patterns of development. The Strategy must provide for the specific circumstances of particular areas; for the range of community requirements and the variety of development issues.

Key elements of the former Regional Physical Development Strategy 1975-95 included the regeneration of Belfast combined with the protection of its setting and the planned development of a network of selected towns described as the District Towns (the main towns in Council Districts). The City of Belfast is, and will continue to be, the principal regional centre in Northern Ireland. The Department's approach to its future development is set out in the Belfast Urban Area Plan 2001. In practice, the District Towns Strategy was applied flexibly over the years in response to the popular demand for more choice.

Settlements

The Department will no longer seek to direct population or development to selected settlements nor will it be bound by a rigid interpretation of a hierarchy of settlements - towns, villages and smaller settlements - ranging from small to large. It will however
seek to meet the development needs of society and protect the environment. In preparing development plans, the Department will take account of differing circumstances throughout Northern Ireland.

Within commuting range of the Belfast Urban Area there are acute pressures for development. There are some settlements where, for reasons of topography, landscape, infrastructure or amenity, there is little scope for further development. Some smaller settlements consist mainly of recent housing development with few or no community facilities. It would be inappropriate for large-scale development to take place in these places.

However, many settlements in the Greater Belfast Area have the capacity for further significant development, to accommodate their own growth and also to provide for the needs of a wider area. In these settlements, the objective will be orderly and progressive development, respecting the environment and well related to the existing settlement.

Housing

In the open countryside of the Greater Belfast Area there are strong development pressures, especially for single houses. These pressures extend beyond those areas presently subject to stricter planning control under Green Belt policy or other policy definitions. Progressively, areas of the countryside have been developed with pockets of essentially suburban development which threaten their rural character. The Strategy is to identify areas under threat and, through the development plan process, to designate them as either Green Belts or Countryside Policy Areas. Green Belts prevent the unrestricted sprawl of towns, safeguard the countryside and assist in urban regeneration. Countryside Policy Areas protect areas under development pressure and maintain their rural character. Within these areas there will be a presumption against unnecessary or inappropriate development. About 25% of the countryside is currently designated as Green Belts or Countryside Policy Areas.

Exceptionally, there may be an area presently designated as a Green Belt or Policy Area where there is little evidence of development pressure. In such an area the present designation will be reassessed.

In other parts of Northern Ireland such as Tyrone and Fermanagh, there is less pressure for development than in the Greater Belfast Area and in some settlements little development may have taken place in recent years. In those areas, it will be  appropriate to consider generous limits of development, with environmental constraints, in order to encourage desirable development and accommodate the maximum flexibility and choice.

Even in those parts of Northern Ireland where there is less overall pressure for development, there will be a need for a Green Belt around the larger towns, and Countryside Policy Areas for places under threat from excessive development.

Elsewhere in the open countryside, planning applications will be assessed on design standards, normal planning criteria and environmental considerations.

Rural housing unfitness is a significant problem particularly in the west of the Province. The Strategy supports current housing initiatives designed to deal with this problem.

Economic Development

It is important to the well-being of the community to facilitate economic development. The planning system can ensure that there are no unnecessary land use obstacles to job creation. In particular, the Strategy is concerned with the promotion of a healthy rural economy, with a suitable range of job opportunities to support local communities as well as to protect and improve the countryside.

The Strategy is generally to retain existing industrial sites and to ensure that there is capacity for industrial development in most settlements, including dispersed rural communities. The Strategy supports the development of community-based projects at
acceptable locations in disadvantaged areas. Appropriate agriculture diversification proposals will be facilitated.

The Department will assist local communities with regeneration and enhancement proposals to strengthen the life and character of settlements.

Environment

The Strategy contains specific policies to protect the beauty of Northern Ireland's landscapes and to safeguard our natural and man-made heritage. The Department will ensure that environmental effects are assessed as an integral part of decision making within the planning process. Conservation Policies will help  to promote Northern Ireland's international reputation in environmental matters and thus assist in the attraction of inward investment.

The Strategy sets out principles for the siting, design and landscaping of new development in rural Northern Ireland. This will be supplemented by further advice in the form of a design guide for development in the countryside.

Strategic Policies

The details of the Strategy are set out in strategic policies which are designed to provide a coherent framework for future development in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless it is recognised that there are opposing pressures to be reconciled within the Strategy. For example, the continued development of a dispersed settlement pattern is at odds with the need to reduce costs of providing services to the community and reliance on the car. These opposing pressures have to be balanced. It is apparent that at present there is a very strong desire within rural communities to support a dispersed settlement pattern and the Department's Strategy acknowledges this desire within normal planning and environmental constraints.

The strategic policies are supported by a range of detailed development control policies under individual topic headings and, where appropriate, information on planning practice. The Strategy will be monitored and evaluated ovr the first five years and the Department will consider the need for a formal review in the year 2000.

Resources

The implementation of certain policies and proposals contained in the Strategy is subject to the availability of resources and, in particular, public expenditure resources.