Planning jobs to be switched to council

Planning jobs to be switched to council

16 July 2014

ALMOST 40 planning posts are to transfer to the new Newry, Mourne and Down Council.

The new super council — which will be responsible for a raft of planning matters — currently operates in shadow form and won’t be formally launched until April next year.

However, the shadow council and Department of Environment are to launch a pilot project this September to test how the transfer of staff and planning functions will work.

The results of the project will be shared with the Province’s other 10 super councils created as a result of the reorganisation of local government.

It’s expected that when the new councils go live next year, 28 planning staff will be based in Down Council accommodation in Downpatrick — with the Downshire Civic Centre viewed as the most likely location — with 10 planning staff based in Newry.

Details of the pilot project were outlined at a meeting of the shadow council’s planning committee held in Downpatrick last week.

Councillors were told discussions are continuing with the DoE Planning Service to identify the “most appropriate configuration” of services and that public planning services will continue to be available in Downpatrick and Newry after the merger.

A paper presented to councillors makes clear that arrangements put in place for the pilot will not prejudice future decisions in respect of the final model identified for the provision of planning in the new council.

A DoE spokesman said that from April 1st next year, the Province’s 11 new super councils will take on responsibility for local development planning, development control and enforcement which are functions currently discharged by the planning arm of the Department of the Environment.

He confirmed a pilot project has been commissioned to prepare the way for formal transfer and will operate in the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area.

“The basic idea is to set up a team of planning staff in the new council on two sites, one in Downpatrick and one in Newry, to test, in a practical way, how planning might best work within a council operating environment,” the spokesman explained.

He added: “The lessons learned from the pilot will be shared with other shadow councils before they go live next year, to facilitate the smooth roll out of the overall transfer of planning programme.”

The DoE confirmed preparatory work is underway in the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area, with the aim of getting the pilot project up and running before the autumn.

The government department has also confirmed that during the pilot, it remains fully responsible for its staff and the delivery of planning functions.