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Date: 30 Jan 2025
There’s still time to have your say on Council’s draft ‘Planning Application Validation Checklist’ - with the consultation closing on Monday 10 February.
This Checklist will help 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 draft Planning Application Validation Checklist opened at the start of December.
It follows legislation, published by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) on 1 October, that now permits councils to publish a Validation Checklist for planning applications.
This new legislation will come into operation on 1 April 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. 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.
“There’s less than two weeks now to provide feedback on our draft Planning Application Validation Checklist - so please share your views on 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
Visit Your Say Belfast at https://yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk/planning-application-validation-checklist