Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Plan Framework: Industry, Business and Distribution Regional Policy Context

The Regional Development Strategy (RDS) promotes a balanced spread of economic development opportunities across the Region focused on the main regional cities and urban hubs/clusters. It places an onus on development plans to provide a generous and continuous supply of land for employment purposes.

The RDS aims to exploit the economic development potential of the key transport corridors by promoting and exploiting the potential for economic development at selected locations on the strategic network of key transport corridors and links.

The RDS proposes a regional portfolio of Strategic Employment Locations (SELs), and lists the criteria which are to be used to identify them. It also states that SELs will be identified in development plans. The Department for Regional Development has carried out a study into SELs in conjunction with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment, Invest Northern Ireland, the Department of Education and Learning and the DOE.

Regional planning policy for industry is currently set out in PPS 4: Industrial Development. This PPS is to be revised and a Public Consultation Draft - PPS 4 - Industry, Business and Distribution was published in January 2003.

The RDS’s economic development policies identify Coleraine and Limavady as Main Hubs, having the potential to develop as growth poles for the clustering of economic activity. Both are situated on a key transport corridor. They will be developed as major employment locations. Ballymoney and Ballycastle are identified as Local Hubs.

The Department proposes to prepare a Local Plan for the area in and around the City of Derry Airport, which adjoins the north west periphery of the Limavady Borough Council area. The Local Plan is likely to include lands in the vicinity of the main airport access road that itself is located within Limavady Borough¹.