Work in Progress - Strategic Review of the Planning Appeals Commission

Our previous planning report, ‘Planning in Northern Ireland’ (February 2022), considered how the planning system in Northern Ireland has operated since April 2015 when responsibility of most operational planning functions transferred to the local councils from the Department of Infrastructure (DfI). It determined that the wider ‘planning system’ in Northern Ireland was not currently operating as one, efficient system. Rather, it alluded to a series of organisations that were not interacting well together or delivering an effective service to the people of Northern Ireland. 

The scope of that report did not however consider in detail the varied and indeed pivotal role of the Planning Appeals Commission within the overall planning process in Northern Ireland. The Planning Appeals Commission is a statutory Tribunal Non-Departmental Public Body (established by the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 that determines appeals and conducts a range of hearings and inquiries in compliance, principally, with the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. 

While the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) provides administrative support and funding for the Planning Appeals Commission, it operates independently of government and has a central role in considering many of the largest and regionally significant planning applications. 

This subsequent study will consider how the landscape has changed in recent years for the Planning Appeals Commission and the extent that this, along with other issues, has contributed to significant backlog and delay in this important part of its work. 

More specifically, our study will consider the:

• overall role and function of the Planning Appeals Commission;

• range of challenges currently facing the Planning Appeals Commission; and

• options available to improve performance and wider planning outcomes in Northern Ireland.

We aim to publish the finalised report in Spring 2025.