Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Countryside and Coast: Regional Policy Context

The Northern Area Plan, consistent with the Regional Development Strategy (RDS), seeks to manage change and maintain an attractive and prosperous rural area. The aim of the Spatial Development Strategy in the RDS in relation to Rural Northern Ireland, is to develop an attractive and prosperous area based on a balanced and integrated approach to the development of towns, villages and the countryside, whilst managing and protecting the natural and built heritage. The Plan recognises that the principles of sustainable development must be at the heart of future rural development. The need to sustain rural communities requires new development and employment opportunities that respect local, social and environmental circumstances.

Measures outlined in the RDS to create and sustain an attractive rural environment include designating Countryside Policy Areas to protect valued landscapes, and controlling development in areas under pressure by means of Green Belt designations. The objectives of Green Belt and Countryside Policy Area designations and the prevailing policies for the control of development within those designations are currently contained in the Planning Strategy for Rural Northern Ireland (PSRNI). This also contains current regional planning policies for the protection of the best and most versatile agricultural land, agricultural development, agricultural diversification and community woodlands.