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COMMITTEE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
|
AYES |
NOES |
|---|---|
| Mr Wilson | Mr Weir |
| Mr Kinahan | Mr Trevor Clarke |
| Mr McGlone | |
| Mr Dallat |
Mr Boylan abstained.
The Committee therefore agreed on the second amendment to Clause 16.
The Chairperson informed members that they had been provided with a tabled copy of a draft press release on the Bill.
Agreed: That the press release is issued with a minor amendment.
The Committee continued informal clause by clause consideration of the Planning Bill – Parts 5 – 15.
The main areas of discussion were guidance, enforcement, resources, level of fines, fixed penalty notices, stop notices, the Department’s oversight role, compensation, liability arrangements, historic buildings and listed buildings.
The Chairperson informed members that, due to time constraints, it would be necessary to suspend informal clause by clause consideration until later in the meeting.
Mr McGlone left the meeting at 10.48a.m.
Agreed: That the Department provides the Committee with details on enforcement practices to date including the number of staff transferred from Planning Service to the enforcement section and a response on how the issue of legal costs influences decisions on enforcement action. Members also requested figures on the number of enforcement cases that have arisen and how many of these the Department has considered ‘expedient’ to pursue.
Mr Kinahan left the meeting at 11.00a.m.
Mr Weir left the meeting at 11.06a.m.
Mr Dallat left the meeting at 11.14a.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials consider the issue of reducing the timescale for change of use from 10 years to 4 years.
Mr McGlone rejoined the meeting at 11.15a.m.
Mr Wilson left the meeting at 11.15a.m.
Mr Dallat rejoined the meeting at 11.20a.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials consider an amendment to raise the level of fine in Clause 133(4) from level 3 to level 5.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials provide further information on the number of stop notices that have been issued with an indication of how many of these were temporary stop notices that were followed by final notices. The Committee also requested a response to the concerns raised by the South Belfast Resident’s group and how they may be addressed in the Planning Bill.
Mr McGlone left the meeting at 11.25a.m.
Agreed: That The Departmental officials consider an amendment to raise the level of fine referred to in 148(5).
Mr McGlone rejoined the meeting at 11.35a.m.
Mr Weir rejoined the meeting at 11.35a.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials provide further clarification on ownership in relation to this clause and also any legal implications that may be associated with urgent works to preserve building.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials agreed to provide information on the total number of applications that have been revoked and the amount of compensation paid. Officials also agreed to look at a possible amendment to require the Department to pay any compensation due where it overrides a council decision not to revoke of modify planning permission.
Mr Kinahan rejoined the meeting at 12.12p.m.
Mr Wilson rejoined the meeting at 12.30p.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials provide information on the current system for dealing with listed/historic buildings.
Mr McGlone left the meeting at 12.51p.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials provide clarification on whether councils will be charged for technical expertise services provided by NIEA, and/or any statutory body or agency. The Committee also reuqested information on who would be responsible for a national register of trees.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials liaise with OFMDFM to consider an amendment to stop the practice of new information being presented at appeals.
Mr Trevor Clarke left the meeting at 1.00p.m.
Departmental officials briefed the Committee and answered members’ questions on the February Monitoring Round.
The main areas of discussion were ePIC, Planning Service redeployment, planning fee income, a workforce model for Planning Service, the surrendering of SWIF funding and the backlog of planning applications.
Agreed: That the Committee was supportive of the Department’s bid, particularly because it felt that the retention of Planning Service staff was important to progress the backlog of applications and ensure that the workload per officer was kept at a feasible level.
Agreed: That the Department provides the Committee with the amount of money lost per day due to the ePIC system not functioning properly.
Question put and agreed:
‘That the Committee for the Environment has considered The Water Framework Directive (Priority Substances and Classification) Regulations (NI) 2011 and has no objection to this rule subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules report’.
Question put and agreed:
‘That the Committee for the Environment has considered SR 2011/3 – The Motor Vehicles (Approval) (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2011 and has no objection to this rule’.
The Chairperson suspended the meeting at 1.36p.m.
The meeting resumed at 2.34p.m. in Room 29 with the following members present:Mr Boylan, Mr McGlone, Mr Wilson, Mr Weir, Mr Kinahan.
The Committee continued informal clause by clause consideration of the Planning Bill.
The main areas of discussion were the potential for councils to set planning fees in the future, pre application community consultation, third party appeals, PPS1, developer contributions, community investment levy, spatial planning, award of costs, simplified planning zones, statutory consultation and public inquiries.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials contact DFP to discuss the possibility of removing its oversight role under this Clause and officials agreed to consider the following amendment to strengthen the clause:
221(1)(a)
Insert after ‘understanding’ the words ‘of planning policy proposals and’
Agreed: That the Departmental officials report back to the Committee on the compatibility of council and Departmental IT systems.
Mr Weir left the meeting at 3.10p.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials report back to the Committee on discussions with the Office of Legislative Council in relation to the commencement of the Bill being linked to local government reform.
Mr McGlone left the meeting at 3.20p.m.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials consider an amendment in relation to award of costs and also to consider an amendment that would require a review of the implementation of the Bill after a set period such as 2 years.
Agreed: That the Departmental officials consider an amendment to strengthen clause 1(1) by extending the purpose of the Department beyond ‘securing orderly and consistent development’.
The minutes of the meetings on 27 January and 1 February 2011 were deferred to the meeting on 3 February 2011 due to time constraints.
The Chairperson informed members that, due to time constraints, matters arising would be deferred until the meeting on 10 February 2011.
The Chairperson informed members that, due to time constraints, the consultations would be deferred until the meeting on 10 February 2011.
The Chairperson informed members that, due to time constraints, correspondence would be deferred until the meeting on 10 February 2011.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 8 February 2011 at 10.00a.m in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 3. 55p.m.
