Regional Planning Policies
- Industry & Commerce
Office Development
The office and business sector is of great importance
to the Northern Ireland economy. It provides essential services for
town and country. Employment in this sector has grown over the past
decade - at a time when employment in some other sectors has
declined. It is hoped that Northern Ireland will continue to benefit
from the expansion of office and business development - including
the further development of local services and the relocation of some
office functions of national and international companies and
government departments.
The Department will seek to encourage the growth of the office and
business sector by ensuring that the planning system makes adequate
provision for future office development. It is recognised that
office technology has undergone considerable transformation which
has permitted much greater freedom in the choice of location.
Concentrations of offices in urban centres have, however,
contributed much to the vitality of our town and city centres. It is
planning policy to encourage a range of choice in terms of office
location while ensuring the continued vitality and viability of town
centres.
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POLICY IC 16 Office Development |
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To facilitate office development in established
town centres.
New office development should continue to be
concentrated within established town centres in order to retain the
vitality and viability of urban centres. Further office development
can help reinforce the existing administrative and service functions
of many settlements, as well as creating new employment in locations
accessible to large sections of the population.
Large and medium sized office development will not normally be
permitted outside established established town centres. Within
larger towns, office areas within the town centre may be identified in the
relevant area plan.
The use of vacant or underused upper floors in central areas may be
appropriate locations for small office development. Proposals for
office use at ground floor level are unlikely to be successful
within the primary retail areas of an established centre.
The development of office development nodes outside existing town
centres will be resisted.
Where there is a clear deficiency in the existing or potential
supply of office floor space within a particular settlement and
where there is little prospect of enlarging the central area,
consideration may be given through the development plan process to
the identification of land suitable for "office park" development.
i.e. a cluster of small office buildings, in landscaped
surroundings, with an accumulated total floor space appropriate to
the scale of the settlement. Where such provision is
considered necessary the Department will encourage the re-use of
redundant urban land in preference to the allocation of greenfield
sites.
Where there is a definite rather than a speculative proposal for a
new office development which would make a substantial contribution
to the economy of a particular town and no feasible site exists
within the existing town centre, consideration may be given to an
alternative site within the urban area. Normally a location on the
periphery of the existing commercial core would be preferable. Any
site to be acceptable will need to be compatible with existing land
uses in the immediate area and meet normal planning and
environmental standards.
In all cases the Department will require
car parking provision - see policy
PSU4.
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