Fermanagh and Omagh District Council was 40 weeks over the target for processing major planning applications in the last financial year.
“This makes for poor reading,” said DUP Councillor David Mahon at a recent Council meeting.
“This information was published in a widely circulated business publication and in my view would not entice any potential investors or developers to come to the west,” he stated.
The statutory average target for processing major planning applications is 30 weeks. Major applications are defined as those that have important economic, social and environmental implications for a council area.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council was the only Council in Northern Ireland to meet the target, but FODC had the longest processing time at 70 weeks. The next slowest Council was Newry and Mourne, at 50 weeks.
“Major planning applications are typically housing developments or more large scale commercial proposals,” Mr. Mahon told the meeting. “I was shocked to learn that Fermanagh and Omagh Council in the 2015/16 year was more than double the 30 week target at 70 weeks. The average of all 11 Councils is 46 weeks with Antrim and Newtownabbey having the quickest processing time of 28 weeks.”
He continued: “The Fermanagh and Omagh Council has a very low population compared to some other Councils. This means there are less homes, which in turn creates less revenue for the Council. As a Council we should be doing all in our power to speed up the process of major planning applications.”
He said he understood that there are issues “over which the Council has no control which can slow down the process” but argued: “We have very few major applications, therefore we should be able to turn these around and give a determination well within the average if not meet the target of 30 weeks.”
Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Mahon spoke to local estate agents. He reported that their main concern is the lack of houses for buyers to choose from. “The quantity is not there,” said Mr. Mahon.
He continued: “Since the recession many builders are no longer in operation and the housing stock across the Council area is depleting with very few new houses being built. The time taken to achieve planning within this Council has the potential to put off developers and investors which can go elsewhere.
“This is a very unsatisfactory position for the Council to find itself and one that I will be watching very closely.”
In response, Chief Executive of FODC, Brendan Hegarty said that the missed target had been highlighted in the Council’s Annual Report. The report stated: “The Council did not meet the target of 30 weeks for the processing of major applications. Delays largely arose during quarter four when 10 major applications were processed. Of the ten processed, six were applications transferred from the DoE Strategic Projects team and were already outside of the processing target time at the Annual Report 2015/16-17 point of transfer. Of these applications, one was received in 2008, two in 2011 and two in 2012.”
The report added: “The combination of the small number of major applications received and the number of existing legacy applications already beyond 30 weeks means that this target is difficult to achieve. The Council did, however, issue more decisions on major applications than it received, with 30 applications processed (including two withdrawn) and nine applications received.”
Alison McCullagh, Director of Regeneration and Planning told the Council meeting that, because FODC receives a small number of major planning applications compared to other councils, “it will be extremely difficult for us to meet that target.” She said it is an issue that central government are examining ahead of the 2017-18 financial year. Ms. McCullagh concluded: “Fermanagh and Omagh District Council is one of only three Councils to meet the local processing target of 15 weeks with a processing rate of 14.4 weeks for local applications.”