Councillor Haughey, who is a lead campaigner on rural issues, said, “It shows a complete lack of leadership that the Minister of Environment Edwin Poots has still made no final decision on the PPS21 consultation. Meanwhile planning applications are piling up under the deferred list. We were all led to believe that this issue would be resolved as soon as possible.
“I and my party used the consultation to highlight the many problems with the proposed PPS21, which restricts the siting of new dwellings in the countryside to within a cluster of farm buildings, which limits building in the countryside only to farmers, which prevents farmers from building more than one dwelling within a 10-year period. The policy works against the rural community and is having a detrimental impact on life in the countryside.
“We have never got a response to that consultation and we are still waiting for the Minister to make a final decision on this matter. What people are asking is how long does it take to get a decision from a Northern Ireland Assembly Minister? This is a priority issue for the rural community however it seems so far down the growing list of issues yet to be resolved by local Ministers.
“Every day I deal with people who want to put in planning applications but cannot afford to spend the high fees simply for their application to be set to the side, with hundreds of others.
“Enough is enough. The Minister must acknowledge the problems with PPS21 and take steps to correct them before publishing a final planning policy for the countryside. This issue cannot be left in limbo any longer – our rural community deserve better.”
ENDS