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Date: 04 Dec 2024
Belfast City Council is currently consulting on a Draft Planning Application Validation Checklist.
The checklist will assist applicants and planning agents with the information required to be submitted with planning applications – above the current minimum mandatory guidance, which remains unchanged.
It will benefit stakeholders including consultees, communities and businesses in providing more clarity to the information needed with planning applications, at the start of the planning process.
The public consultation on the council’s Draft Planning Application Validation Checklist follows legislation, published by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) on 1 October 2024, that now permits councils to publish a Validation Checklist for planning applications.
The new legislation will come into operation on 1 April 2025 which will enable councils time to prepare and consult on their proposed Validation Checklists.
Councillor Arder Carson, chair of Belfast city council’s Planning Committee, said: “We welcome the new legislation by the DfI which allows councils to publish a Planning Application Validation Checklist from 1 April 2025. This will set out the information, plans or evidence, which must be submitted with your planning application - so that it can be registered as “valid” and considered by our Planning Service.
“Its purpose will be to provide certainty and clarity to applicants as well as improve the quality of planning applications on submission - leading to quicker decisions and more efficient consultee responses.
“The Draft Planning Application Validation Checklist we will be consulting on is based on our own non-mandatory application checklist which has been in place since 2018 and has become established for planning applications in Belfast" he added.
“We will also provide a guide to typical information requirements by type of planning application. More information on this can be found on the planning section of our website.
“To feed back on the Draft Planning Application Validation Checklist please visit Your Say Belfast at https://yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk/”
The Planning Application Validation Checklist will apply to planning applications for full permission, outline permission and approval of reserved matters.
It will set out the information that should be submitted, having regard to the nature, scale and location of the proposal. The checklist will be applied on a case-by-case basis. For further details, go to https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/planning
The public consultation on the Draft Planning Application Validation Checklist will run for 10 weeks until 10 February 2025. To take part, visit Your Say Belfast at https://yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk/planning-application-validation-checklist