Ballycastle SDLP Councillor Dónal Cunningham has welcomed reforms to the planning system brought to the Assembly on 14 January via the Planning Bill but warned that similar efforts were needed to progress Community Planning.
Councillor Cunningham said “In Ballycastle and Moyle we have always been keen to see well designed sustainable development which is sympathetic to the environment. So as we get ready for the transfer of planning powers to the new local government authorities in 2015, it is equally important that the outstanding reforms and modernization of the planning system are implemented and that progress towards a system of Community planning is enabled. People and communities need to be genuinely engaged in the decisions made on development within their community and on the provision of public services which affect them”
“The community wants to see a system which promotes faster and fairer processing of planning applications and appeals, combined with simpler and tougher enforcement against planning breaches”
Ballycastle SDLP 