Mid Ulster Publishes Planning Validation Checklist
As part of efforts to improve its planning processes, Mid Ulster District Council has published a ‘planning application validation checklist’.
The aim of the new checklist for planning applicants is to overcome delays in the processing of applications for planning permission, by front-loading applications with all the evidence and information deemed necessary to determine the applications.
This should, in turn, improve consultee response times, reduce the need to re-consult and ultimately shorten the time taken to reach a decision.
The planning application validation checklist sets out the two types of information needed: ‘basic’ and ‘additional’, and gives examples, such as an ownership certificate and a site location plan for the former, and design concept statement for the latter.
Other points contained in the checklist include how the appeals process works, and what to do when submitting new information.
Chair of the Council’s Planning Committee, Councillor Gavin Bell, commented:
“Our Council has been at the forefront of innovation and improvement to the planning system since 2015. This checklist will assist applicants and planning agents with the information to be submitted with planning applications, above the previous minimum mandatory guidance. It sets out the information, plans or evidence, which must accompany applications – so that they can be registered as ‘valid’ and considered by our planning service without undue delay.”
The Mid Ulster District Council planning application validation checklist can be found at www.midulstercouncil.org/PlanningAppChecklist