NEWRY, Mourne and Down Council’s planning department has been urged to improve its performance.
The issue was raised at the last monthly meeting of the local authority ahead of next month’s council elections, with officials asked to ensure planning staff are provided with the support that they require across a number of areas.
A number of councillors, including Terry Hearty and current council chairman Mark Murnin, urged planners to do more, with Independent councillor Henry Reilly suggesting that the local authority’s planning committee “is not doing its job and is ineffective”.
Cllr Hearty said he recognised that there have been difficulties over the past few months due to staff numbers, welcoming confirmation that three new planners had recently started work.
He also highlighted concern about planning files being moved between planners, suggesting this had resulted in “serious difficulties” for some people.
“We do seem to have a problem keeping staff in the planning department,” continued Cllr Hearty. “We now have three new members and I would like to see someone monitor this area tightly to ensure they stay with us. We also need to look at why other staff are not remaining with us in the planning department where there seems to be a problem.”
Cllr Hearty also paid tribute to the work of elected members who sit on the Planning Committee.
“The work and commitment that they put in to the planning process in unbelievable,” the councillor continued, paying tribute to their “hours of dedication” and highlighting the support they required from staff.
Cllr Hearty said it was important that the new staff members were provided with the support they need, explaining that it was previously suggested that while planners were highly trained, they were not making decisions.
“We need to make sure they are allowed to use the skills and the training they have and to make decisions,” he declared. “There is a serious housing crisis in the rural areas at the minute. The council recently held an event to look at this crisis and in rural areas planning is the hold up.
“Now that we are heading into a new council, there is an opportunity to make sure planning works and that we work with these three members of staff to ensure they get all the support they need and area allowed to use the skills that they have.”
Cllr Murnin said the local authority employed professional planners who should be able to make decisions, while Cllr Brian Quinn raised concern about enforcement cases, claiming applicants were finding out about the planners’ ruling at the last minute.
“This means that the plot of land which people may have paid a lot of money for is blighted for future applications or if they want to sell the ground,” he added.
Cllr Henry Reilly suggested the local authority’s planning committee should “start again”, arguing that it was not effective and was not doing its job in the way it should be.
He added: “When I have people coming to me trying to get a small factory started to employ people, we seem to want put obstacles in their way rather than help them. This attitude nonsensical.
“Planning agents across Northern Ireland will tell you that this council is the only one that is not functional and can’t make its mind up on anything. Planners won’t get back to people, things are not working and the situation needs to be resolved.”
The council director in charge of planning, Marie Ward, said she continually reviewed planning and its performance.
She also confirmed that while all posts have been filled at present, a number will change due to what she described as “personal circumstances”. The council official also confirmed that the new staff all have planning experience.
Ms Ward said she had also been reviewing planning enforcement cases with the emphasis on the current caseload. She said it was incorrect to say that an enforcement notice blighted land.