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Ten years of Local Development Plans in Northern Ireland: Where are we now?

On 1 April 2015, the Department of the Environment (DOE) transferred responsibility for the majority of planning functions to local government through the 2011 Planning Act (NI), allowing local councils to prepare and adopt their own Local Development Plans (LDPs). This transfer of power was intended to ensure planning decisions better reflected local priorities and encouraged greater public involvement, but ten years on, how are things fairing? Assistant Planner, Eilís Turley provides an overview of how LDPs are produced and shares insight into the current position of councils across Northern Ireland.

What are Local Development Plans?

LDPs outline how land in a given council area can be used, developed, and conserved. These plans are essential for guiding development in the area and are prepared in consultation with the public and key stakeholders. Under the 2015 changes, local authorities gained control over the planning policy decisions within their jurisdictions, rather than relying on central government guidelines.

The goal behind the devolution of planning powers was to make the planning system in Northern Ireland more responsive, efficient, and democratic.

Northern Ireland's planning framework comprises both regional and local development plans. The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) oversees regional planning policies, while local planning is managed by the 11 district councils. Each council is responsible for preparing and implementing its own LDP.

The Plan Strategy process

LDPs comprise a Plan Strategy (PS) and a Local Policies Plan (LPP). The Plan Strategy stage includes the vision, objectives, growth strategy and strategic policies for the council area. The Plan Strategy is tested for ‘soundness’ at the Independent Examination (IE), these tests are based on:

• Content;
• conformity with central government regional plans, policy and guidance; and
• coherence and effectiveness tests.

Following completion of the IE, the Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) issues the DfI with the IE report. This IE report is non-binding, and following receipt and consideration, the DfI then issues a “Direction to Council”. The council must then adopt the Plan Strategy as directed. Details of the adopted Plan Strategies can be accessed on individual council websites.

Local Policies Plan (LPP)

The next step to adopting a LDP is the creation of a LPP. This section of the LDP can be seen as a site promotion exercise. A LPP details local policies and site-specific proposals for land use and development, including zoning, designations, and key site requirements, to achieve the council's vision and strategic policies.

The process for the adoption is similar to that of the PS, where the draft LPP goes to Public Consultation allowing for the input of the community. The next step is IE where the draft LPP undergoes an IE to assess its soundness. Following the IE, a binding report (a "Direction") is issued by the DfI to the council, requiring them to adopt the LPP as prepared, or with modifications. Once any required changes are made, the final LPP is formally adopted and published by the council.

Currently Belfast City Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council have begun developing their LPP. All these councils are at the ‘Call for Sites’ consultation stage.

A recommended 40-month timetable for LDP production is often used as a starting point. This timeframe encompasses key stages like initial plan preparation, strategy adoption, and local policies adoption. The 40-month period is an estimate provided by the DfI in Northern Ireland. However, no councils have succeeded in producing a LDP in this timeframe and as a result councils have continuously updated their timetables to encompass the delays that they face in the production of a LDP. 

Each councils timeline to Plan Strategy adoption is different, and therefore each council is at a different stage of the LDP making process. These discrepancies in timeframes come from various reasons such as funding, volume of information that needs to be gathered and staffing.

Download the table below for an in-depth breakdown of the current stage of Plan Strategies, Local Policies Plans and Local Development Plans across the councils.

Looking forward

Within the next two years we can expect Belfast City Council and Fermanagh & Omagh District Council to have adopted their entire LDP based on their proposed timetables. Derry City and Strabane District Council are set to adopt their PS in Q4 2025. In 2025-26 we can expect to see Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Lisburn City and Castlereagh Council, and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council publish draft Local Policies Plans. However, this increase in the creation of draft plans will mean additional resourcing pressure on the PAC for independent examination of the plans, which may further increase delays the adoption of these plans. So far only six of the 11 councils have had IEs into the first part of their LDP, so there are 16 IEs still to do.  

The PAC plays a significant role in the process of producing LDPs in Northern Ireland, primarily as an independent body responsible for resolving disputes and reviewing the outcomes of planning processes. One of the largest issues facing the councils production of LDPs is the role that the PAC plays in the IE of the LDPs. The PAC is tasked with reviewing the plan to ensure it complies with legal requirements, national policies, and proper planning principles. This examination process is meant to ensure that the LDP is sound, effective, and capable of addressing the future needs of the area.

However, the PAC have faced resourcing and funding issues in recent years which has led to the slow uptake of IEs in Northern Ireland. A Planning Improvement Plan for Northern Ireland has committed £3 million in funding from the Interim Public Sector Transformation Board to fund a commission of independent persons to undertake, hear, and report work that the PAC has been unable to progress. It is hoped that this commission, once established, will provide additional resource for the remaining IEs that need to take place, in the hopes that this funding will increase the rate in which IEs are undertaken and, as a result, the production of LDPs in NI will increase.

To find out more about planning in Northern Ireland, or for advice on the Local Development Plan process, please contact Eilís Turley.

24 April 2025