Comment

Mid Ulster District Council: Local Development Plan

Below is a summary of the Topic Papers that have been prepared by Mid Ulster District Council, which will form the evidence base of the emerging Local Development Plan documents.

Northern Ireland Local Development Plan Monitoring

Key goals:

To provide for 15,000 new homes by 2030 in a range of housing and locations.
To facilitate the creation of 12,000 new jobs by 2030 at a variety of locations.

Retail:

Potential designation of a district centre to the south of Cookstown town centre and the Linen Green.
Potential extension to Dungannon Retail Core.
Review of town centre designations in smaller settlements such as, Fivemiletown, Moneymore, Draperstown, Moy, Ballygawley and Stewartstown.

Housing:

Major focus for development will be in Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt.
There will be a need to zone additional housing land in the main towns.
Potential for de-zoning of zoned land within small settlements as the Plan tries to focus new housing developments to larger settlements.

Infrastructure:

Community/health and education zonings proposed.
Seeking to develop a policy for achieving planning gains, where possible, for local settlements affected by proposals for commercial energy production.
By-pass routes for Magherafelt, Cookstown and Dungannon are to be protected.

Economy:

Minerals industry in Mid Ulster creates more employment than in any other district but need to ensure that environmental challenges arising from this form of development are addressed.
New and extended tourism opportunity zones will be proposed.

Environment:

Greater control over all development around Lough Neagh and the Sperrins.
Proposals to safeguard natural and built heritage assets from inappropriate development.
Council may consider the need for a bespoke policy response in identified exceptional landscapes, such as the more elevated Sperrins AONB Clogher Valley Escarpments.

Next steps:

The council are expected to prepare their Preferred Options Paper for consultation in October 2016. During this time the council will be seeking comments on the proposed policies.

Preferred Options Paper: October/November 2016
Draft Plan Strategy: March/ April 2017
Independent Examination: January - March 2018
Adopt Plan Strategy: March - April 2018
Draft Local Policies Plan: January - March 2019
Independent Examination: January - March 2020
Adopt Local Policies Plan: June 2020

If you would like a chat about what this could mean for you please contact Angela Wiggam or Emma Walker.

7 November 2016