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Northern Ireland Office

Answer

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will reintroduce the moratorium on planning applications for developments that would (a) cause and (b) be likely to cause a breach of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. [98337] Angela Smith: Last year planning applications in a number of areas in Northern Ireland were held on a temporary basis, as a precautionary measure, as a result of concerns expressed by the Department of the Environment's Environment and Heritage Service about the environmental compliance and pollution implications of further development. There was no moratorium on the determination of planning applications. Discussions took place between Environment and Heritage Service, Planning Service and Water Service and, as a result, Environment and Heritage Service and Water Service agreed an expanded and reprioritised Capital Works Programme to carry out the improvement works to the sewage treatment and sewerage systems necessary in order to ensure compliance with EU Directives and national standards. On the basis of the agreed programme, the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly decided that planning applications that had been held on a precautionary basis and future planning applications in the locations affected would be processed to a conclusion. Dermot Nesbitt MLA announced the Executive Committee's decision in a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 7 October 2002. It was agreed that the Department of the Environment and the Department for Regional Development would monitor the implementation of the capital works programme and compliance with the relevant environmental standards in order to allow the agreed approach to be reviewed, if necessary. There are no grounds for altering the policy approach agreed by the Executive Committee at this stage.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

98337; 400 c232W;400 c229-30W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

EU law EU action Domestic waste Northern Ireland Planning permission Pollution Planning Water Sewage Waste disposal Water treatment

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk