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Northern Ireland Planning Service

Processing Applications: Consultation with Local Councils

It is a statutory requirement for Planning Service to consult the relevant local Council in relation to planning proposals.
(Article 15 of The Planning (General Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 1993).
Following a development control group meeting a schedule is prepared for the local Council for consultation which indicates the Department’s group opinion on each application which has been formed. The schedule will also include applications being presented back to Council following a deferral at an earlier meeting.
A list of all of the applications on the Council schedule with the related opinion are available on this website.
  • Applications in my area...

Key Information

  • The District Council must provide reasons why an application should be deferred
  • Most deferrals are dealt by office meetings and only in exceptional circumstances is a site meeting required.

Role of the Council

The role of the Council is to express a view on the application which can either be to agree or disagree with the opinion presented by Planning Service.
If the Council disagree with the opinion they may request a deferral providing sufficient reasons for this request and Planning Service will consider whether a meeting will be held to discuss the application further.
If a deferral is accepted a meeting will take place and the application will be presented back to Council at a later meeting with a reconsidered opinion.