For Immediate Release    31 March 2009

Countryside Campaign welcomes PPS 21

The Campaign for the Protection of the Countryside Northern Ireland has broadly welcomed government proposals for the sustainable development of the countryside. 

Today the consultation on the Department of Environment’s Draft Planning Policy Statement 21, which contains the proposals, ended.  The Campaign, which has submitted its response to the Department and made direct representations to Ministers on this issues, looks forward to the early publication of the statement.

Campaign chairman Patrick Cross said:
“We broadly welcome draft PPS 21, which builds on PPS14 and will potentially be beneficial to the protection of the countryside in Northern Ireland.  The proposals look to have created the right balance between new rural housing developments that are in strong demand and sustainability.  

“The Campaign is particularly impressed with the proposal to replace a redundant non-residential building with a single dwelling house. This will allow extra houses to be constructed without further blighting the open countryside. We also welcome the proposal to permit people to convert non-residential buildings, such as old barns into residential housing, rather than constructing new housing on undeveloped land.

 “Nevertheless there are some aspects of draft PPS 21 which are potentially problematic.  For example, it lists types of developments that will be permitted in the countryside. However, unlike PPS14, there is not an automatic presumption against other types of development not specified. This open ended approach introduces avoidable uncertainty into the planning process.

“ The proposal to allow properties to be built on the basis of specific needs of individuals or families, introduces too many non-planning considerations into the process.  We are concerned that this policy is open to abuse.  ”

“The Campaign is determined to ensure that planning policy protects the long term future of rural people as well as the countryside”, Mr. Cross concluded.

Ends

For further information contact Patrick Cross on 07845 876522 or Martin Maxwell on 07979 782209.

Notes to Editor

To learn about the Campaign for the Protection of the Countryside NI and view its response to the DOE consultation on Draft PPS21, go to www.countrysideni.org.

To view Draft PPS21 go to www.planningni.gov.uk/