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Planning Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

I welcome anything that improves the planning procedure in Northern Ireland. It has not been a particularly happy area over the years, although, in my region, I have no complaint whatever with the treatment that I receive as I make representations. Unfortunately, that is not the case in other regions. I can think of one region in particular where the chief planning officer appears to have an objective to frustrate developers and individuals in terms of planning. But I do not want to dwell on that on this occasion. In my experience, the Planning Appeals Commission has not indicated any great degree of consistency. I am concerned that the greater the powers that are vested in the commission, the more we need to look at the way in which that body functions. The Planning Appeals Commission is not a body to which one runs willy-nilly at the drop of a hat. But my experience has been that when I speak to a commissioner, I believe that I get an answer. Then I find that the commission as a whole overturns the decision of the commissioner without any justification that a simple, old, village schoolmaster like myself can understand. I find that, in dealing with the Planning Appeals Commission, one really needs to have a legal background, as it is not a simple process. I am more than pleased with some of the changes that have been proposed of late in respect of planning—they are forward-looking and helpful. But if things are going to work as I know the Minister would wish them to work—and as I would wish them to work—we need to look a great deal more carefully at the functioning of the Planning Appeals Commission. Otherwise, there will be a rift and a gap between those who want to develop and those who appear to want to frustrate development.