Ards and Down Area Plan 2015
Preamble
The Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 is a development plan being prepared
under the provisions of Part III of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 by the Planning Service,
an Agency within the Department of the Environment.
Notice was given to Ards Borough Council on 12th January 1999 and to
Down District Council on 27th January 1999 that the Department intended to prepare a new development
plan to cover the two council areas for the period 2000 to 2015. A Notice of Intention to prepare the
Plan was published in the local and regional press in the week beginning 15th March 1999 and comments
were invited from the public and interested parties in respect of the issues to be addressed in the
Plan. Consultations were also carried out with both Councils, community groups, Government Departments
and Agencies, statutory undertakers and other appropriate bodies. All representations received were
taken into account in preparing the Issues Paper and the Draft Plan.
In April 2000 the Department informed Ards Borough and Down District
Councils that the Plan would be prepared under new procedures which replaced the publication of Preliminary
Proposals with the publication of an Issues Paper.
The purpose of the Issues Paper was to offer the opportunity for wider
and more effective public participation in the preparation of the Draft Plan by focusing thought on
strategic matters in the early stages of the preparation process, in preference to the traditional approach
of publishing for comment Preliminary Proposals of a site specific nature. The aim of the Issues Paper
was to promote debate and feedback on matters which would shape the preparation of the Draft Plan.
Further discussions with Ards Borough and Down District Councils took
place in October 2000 on the content of the Issues Paper then being prepared. The Department also appointed
Community Technical Aid, (CTA), to undertake an extensive community and public consultation exercise
on the Issues Paper. The first stage of CTA’ s work preceded publication of the Issues Paper. That work
involved identification of community, voluntary and environmental groups throughout the Plan area likely
to have an interest in the preparation of the Area Plan. Contact was made by CTA with 460 groups who
were informed of the process and encouraged to participate. CTA held initial briefings with key umbrella
groups in the area which were given the opportunity to express their views on issues of importance to
the Plan. CTA then reported the results of this first stage exercise to the Department on 7 December
2000.
The Department published the Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 Issues Paper
on 15th December 2000. A public notice was placed in the regional and local newspapers during the week
beginning 11th December 2000. Copies of the Paper were made available free of charge from the Divisional
Planning Office, from the offices of Ards Borough and Down District Council and from local libraries.
The Issues Paper and the Press Notice advised that all views expressed
in writing by 30th March 2001, including views conveyed through the report of CTA, representations received
during the initial stages of the Plan review and the representations of statutory consultees, including
Ards Borough and Down District Council, would be considered in the preparation of the policies and proposals
to be published in the Draft Plan.
In January 2001 CTA facilitated five public meetings in each of the
two council areas. Planning staff were in attendance at each meeting to assist and to answer questions.
Each of the meetings was advertised in advance in the local press, the Notices appearing during the
weeks beginning 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd January 2001. A reminder of the closing date for responses to
the Issues Paper was published in the local and regional newspapers in the week beginning 19th March
2001.
CTA reported to Planning Service on 31 March 2001 on the implementation
of, and their conclusions on, the community consultation exercise which they had facilitated. CTA received
responses from 50 community, voluntary and environmental groups and from over 700 people who had attended
the public meetings. Their Report is included as part of the Technical Supplement on Public Participation.
During the published response period 568 representations were received
by Planning Service of which approximately 40% either addressed issues raised in the published Issues
Paper, or otherwise dealt with general rather than site specific issues. Some representations of general
concern were received both before and after the advertised period for response to the Issues Paper.
In preparing the Draft Plan consideration has been given to all representations received throughout
that process.
The Department is now publishing the Ards and Down Area Plan 2015 Draft
Plan consisting of a Written Statement and accompanying maps.
Representations in support of or objections to any of
the policies or proposals contained in the Draft Plan should be submitted in writing and must be received
by 21 January 2003.
Representations should be addressed to:
Mr TJ Clarke
The Divisional Planning Manager
Ards and Down Area Plan 2015
Divisional Planning Office
Rathkeltair House
DOWNPATRICK BT30 6EA
The Divisional Planning Manager
Ards and Down Area Plan 2015
Divisional Planning Office
Rathkeltair House
DOWNPATRICK BT30 6EA
The Department will consider and attempt to resolve any objections it
may receive relating to the Draft Plan. Where objections cannot be resolved, the Department may request
the Planning Appeals Commission to hold a public inquiry for the purposes of considering such objections.
If a public inquiry is held the Department will consider the recommendations of the Planning Appeals
Commission and then decide whether to adopt the Plan in whole or in part, with or without modification.
A final version of the Plan document incorporating any amendments or revisions will then be published.
The Department has also prepared and is publishing a number of supplements
to accompany the Draft Plan. These provide background and technical information that has informed the
policies and proposals contained in the Draft Plan. These are:
- Technical Supplements which deal with housing and population, industry, commerce, education, social and community facilities, tourism, open space and recreation, public utilities, transportation and public participation.
- A Countryside Assessment Supplement which includes an appraisal of environmental assets, an assessment of the landscape of the Plan area, an analysis of rural development pressure and an appraisal of each settlement in terms of its character, assets and constraints, conservation issues and settlement limit.
- Settlement Reports relating to each town, village and small settlement which detail the settlement’s role and facilities, population, housing, urban capacity sites, land availability and the investigation of future housing lands.
- A Strategic Environmental Appraisal and Equality Impact Assessment Supplement comprising an assessment of the probable environmental and equality impacts of the policies and proposals contained within the Draft Plan.
In the case of any contradiction between
the Written Statement and any other document forming part of the Draft Plan, the provisions of the Written
Statement will prevail.
The current statutory plan for Ards Borough is the North Down and Ards
Area Plan 1984-1995. That Plan is also the current statutory plan for the North Down Council area. The
current statutory plan for Down District is the Down Area Plan 1982-1997. Although these plans have
passed their notional end dates each will remain a material consideration in determining planning applications
until superseded by the adoption of a successor plan. In Ards Borough and Down District the successor
plan will be the Ards and Down Area Plan 2015.
The Draft Plan itself may constitute a material consideration in determining
planning applications and further information on the weight the Department attaches to the policies
and proposals in emerging development plans is set out in Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) General
Principles.
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