Local Development Plan

We have published our draft Plan Strategy, the first stage of the new Local Development Plan 2032, for public consultation.

The Plan Strategy for Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council is the first document in a two-stage process, the second being the Local Policies Plan.  Together these will constitute the council’s new Local Development Plan. 

The draft Plan Strategy provides the strategic direction for the council area over a 15 year period, which will be reviewed following adoption of the Local Policies Plan. The draft Plan Strategy aims to promote and deliver sustainable development by improving the overall quality of life and wellbeing across the entire council district up to 2032.

Contained within this draft plan strategy are Strategic Policies underpinned by a suite of Operational Policies which are the means of securing appropriate high quality development meeting both the needs of residents and the council. The Plan Strategy is based on six objectives which will help shape the council area over the Plan period.

How we got here

Publication of the draft Plan Strategy follows the publication of the Preferred Options Paper (POP) on 30th March 2017 which included an eight week public consultation period ending on 25th May 2017.

A Public Consultation Report detailing those representations to the POP was published in September 2017. The council in accordance with relevant legislation and regional guidance is preparing its Local Development Plan in four stages.

The Draft Plan Strategy

The draft Plan Strategy takes account of the particular characteristics of our district and the views of our residents, council members and key consultees. It provides the statutory policy framework for the future development of the council area from 2017-2032 aligned with our Community Plan.

The draft Plan Strategy sets out how the area will develop and grow over the period up to 2032. It will provide the strategic policy framework across a range of areas such as housing, employment, tourism and infrastructure. It takes account of the ‘Regional Development Strategy 2035’ (RDS), the Strategic Planning Policy Statement (SPPS) and other advice and guidance issued by the Northern Ireland Government.

The draft Plan Strategy contains strategic policies and the following six objectives:

1. A quality place
2. A thriving place
3. A vibrant place
4. An attractive place
5. A green place
6. A connected place

The draft Plan Strategy was published for formal consultation on Friday 8th November 2019 and closed at 5pm on Friday 10th January 2020.

Copies of the draft Plan Strategy and supporting documents are available to view and download from the links below and are available in different formats upon request.

• Part 1 Plan Strategy
• Part 2 Operational Policies
• Supplementary planning guidance
• Our online map viewer can be accessed on our ArcGIS page
• Summary Document of the draft Plan Strategy
• Public notice
• Local advertisement

 

Representations to draft Plan Strategy

The representations submitted in response to the public consultation on the draft Plan Strategy and the supporting documents are now available by clicking here.

After the consultation closed and the responses assessed we made contact with the Department for Infrastructure to cause an Independent Examination of the draft Plan Strategy to be held.

All representations were forwarded to the Department of Infrastructure in advance of the Independent Examination being held.

General Data Protection Regulation

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) producing a specific Local Development Plan Privacy Notice, which sets out how any personal information we receive from you is managed. The notice contains the standards required that you can expect of the council when we ask for, or hold, your personal information and an explanation of our information management security policy.

A copy of our Local Development Plan Privacy Notice is available by clicking here. All representations received to the draft Plan Strategy will be published on our website and made available for public inspection Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm by contacting the Planning Unit, 2nd floor, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, BT27 4RL.

Accompanying Assessments & Technical Supplements

The following Assessments to the draft Plan Strategy are available to view from Friday 8th November 2019 in line with the commencement of the formal 9 week public consultation period.

• Sustainability Appraisal of the Draft Plan Strategy (incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment) Sustainability Appraisal Report
• Sustainability Appraisal of the Draft Plan Strategy (incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment) Non-technical Summary
• ​Sustainability Appraisal of the Draft Plan Strategy (incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment) Scoping Report
• Draft Habitats Regulations Assessment Report of the Draft Plan Strategy
• The Draft Equality (Section 75) Screening Report of the Draft Plan Strategy
• The Rural Needs Impact Assessment of the Draft Plan Strategy

A range of Technical Supplements have also been produced which provide the evidence base to the draft Plan Strategy which were available to view from Friday 8th November 2019 in line with the commencement of the formal 9 week public consultation period.

• Technical Supplement 1 – Housing Growth Study
• Technical Supplement 2 – Urban Capacity Study
• Technical Supplement 3 – Employment Land Review
• Technical Supplement 4 – Office Capacity Study
• Technical Supplement 5 – Retail Capacity Study
• Technical Supplement 6 – Countryside Assessment
• Technical Supplement 7 – Open Space, Sport and Outdoor Recreation
• Technical Supplement 8 – Local Transport Study

Position Papers

• 1. Population and Growth
• 2. Housing and Settlements
• 3. Employment and Economic Development
• 4. Retailing, Offices and Town Centres
• 5. Transport
• 6. Telecommunications, Public Services and Utilities
• 7. Historic Environment
• 8. Natural Heritage
• 9. Countryside Assessment
• 10. Development Constraints (Flood Risk, Drainage and Minerals)
• 11. Tourism
• 12. Open Space, Sport and Outdoor Recreation
• 13. Waste Management
• 14. Education, Health, Community & Cultural Facilities

Consultation and Engagement Strategy

With the progression of the Plan Strategy we recognise that consultation with our neighbouring councils provides the opportunity to fulfil the following aims:-

• identify cross boundary issues in the areas of economic development, housing, transport and general infrastructure;
• advise neighbouring councils of matters of collective interest including the evidence base which informs the Plan Strategy;
• seek agreement and co-operation, where possible, on the cross boundary issues identified;
• ensure that regional policy development, local transport plans and joint working is appropriately linked to the decision making role.

This Consultation and Engagement Strategy focuses specifically on how we achieve these aims with those neighbouring councils who are defined as a statutory consultee as set out in Part 1 Section 2 (1(b) ) of The Planning (Local Development Plan) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015.

Public consultation on site-specific policy representations (counter representations).

In accordance with the regulations, all counter representations received are published for inspection.

All counter representations can be viewed using this link.

Should you wish to visit our offices to inspect the counter representations to the draft Plan Strategy (which is a requirement of the regulations) it is requested that you make an appointment in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements.   

Please contact the Planning Unit at Lagan Valley Island either by telephone 028 9244 7300 or emailing the LDP team at LDP@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk 

Appointments can be made between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday at:

You should note that there is no opportunity to make any further representations at this stage.

In accordance with regulations prior to submitting our draft Plan Strategy to the Department for Independent Examination on 22nd March 2021, we gave due consideration to the issues raised in all representations we received during the public consultation into the draft Plan Strategy documents.

Having considered the issues raised, we have identified and proposed a number of focused and minor changes to our draft Plan Strategy. Minor changes were provided as a separate schedule and whilst these did not require public consultation they were published for information to allow the reader to understand how the council differentiated between what it considered to be a minor and focussed change.

These changes were subject to an 8 week period of public consultation which ended on Friday 12th March 2021.

The consultation document on the focused changes, along with addendums to accompany all corresponding papers affected by these proposed changes can be viewed and downloaded from the Submission Documents Library and are available in different formats upon request.

We have published the comments received and these can be viewed from the links provided in the table below.

If you are unable to view these comments online, they are available for inspection at the Planning Unit, Civic Headquarters, Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn BT27 4RL during normal office hours (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) by appointment only.

An appointment can be arranged by contacting the Planning Unit either by telephone 028 9244 7300 or emailing the LDP team at LDP@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk

The comments received on the proposed focused changes were collated and formed part of our submission to the Department for Infrastructure on the 22nd March 2021.  They were also submitted to the examining body as part of the Independent Examination process.

There is no opportunity to make any further comments at this stage.

Comments received to Focused Changes Consultation

Reference Number	Received from	Comment relates to the following Focussed or Minor Change
CFC-001	Northern Ireland Housing Executive	Not specified
CFC-002	Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council	Not specified
CFC-003	Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council	FC1B and FC2
CFC-004	Gravis Planning	Not specified
CFC-005	Newry, Mourne and Down District Council	FC8A, FC8B and FC14B, MC52E, MC63 and MC65B
CFC-006	Department for Communities	Not Specified
CFC-007	Inaltus	MC26A and MC26B
CFC-008	Department for Communities - Historic Environment Division	MC6A, MC6B and MC6C
CFC-009	Belfast City Council	FC1A, FC1B, FC2 and FC5B, MC13, MC27 and MC67
CFC-010	Invest Northern Ireland	FC7, FC14B and FC15, MC26A, MC26B, MC49 and MC62
CFC-011	Department for the Economy - Minerals and Petroleum Division	FC8B, MC43 and MC63
CFC-012	Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)	MC24A, MC24B and MC43
CFC-013	TSA Planning on behalf of Lotus Homes (UK) Ltd	FC1A and FC1B, MC3A, MC3B and MC17
CFC-014	TSA Planning on behalf of an Individual	FC1 and FC1B, MC3A, MC3B and MC17
CFC-015	TSA Planning on behalf of Rosemount Homes (Carryduff) Ltd	FC1A and FC1B, MC3A and MC3B
CFC-016	TSA Planning on behalf of Cherrytree Holdings Ltd	FC1A and FC1B, MC3A, MC3B and MC17
CFC-017	TSA Planning on behalf of an Individual and Cherrytree Holdings Ltd	FC1A and FC1B, MC3A, MC3B and MC17
CFC-018	TSA Planning on behalf of Unicorn Group	Not specified
CFC-019	RSPB Northern Ireland	FC14B and MC24C
CFC-020(a)	Department for Infrastructure	FC1B, FC2, FC5A and FC12, MC4, MC7A, MC9B, MC24C, MC26A, MC27, MC28, MC47, MC50 and MC54A
CFC-020(b)	Department for Infrastructure - Roads	FC11 and FC12, MC8A, MC8B, MC8C, MC47, MC48, MC49, MC50 and MC51
CFC-020(c)	Transport Planning and Modelling Unit - Transport Policy Directorate	FC11, MC8A, MC49 and MC51
CFC-020(d)	Department for Infrastructure - Rivers	FC15
CFC-020(e)	Department for Infrastructure - Water and Drainage Policy Division	Not specified