Ards and North Down Borough Council POP Response Questionnaire

Overview

Ards and North Down Borough Council is pleased to present the Preferred Options Paper (POP) marking an important initial stage in the development of the Borough’s first Local Development Plan (LDP).

 The Preferred Options Paper is an opportunity for discussion on the matters which the LDP will deal with through the Plan Strategy and Local Policies Plan.  The LDP shall seek to present a sustainable future for our Borough, by providing the land required for homes and jobs needed in a way that respects the unique historic and natural environment of our Borough.

 The Preferred Options Paper (POP) is the first formal stage in the preparation of the LDP, and the first of three main public consultation documents that we will issue during the Plan process.  The POP is designed to promote focused debate on key issues of strategic significance which are likely to influence the direction of future development within our Borough to 2030. 

The Council recently identified an inadvertent omission from its online version of the published POP. This has implications in respect of compliance with the relevant regulations for its consultation exercise.  

To ensure that the Council has fully complied with the legal requirements of The Planning (Local Development Plan) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, it is necessary to commence consultation  anew from Friday 17 May 2019 to 4.30pm on the 9th August 2019.

Why your views matter

The purpose of this consultation is to encourage feedback from a wide variety of interests and stakeholders so that they may be taken into account during the preparation of the Draft Plan Strategy, which is the next phase of the LDP.  The POP therefore offers the opportunity to influence the LDP documents, which will contain the planning policy framework and land use proposals to guide future development decisions within the Borough up to 2030.

The POP is published along with a number of supporting documents which are also the subject of this public consultation. These include a Sustainability Appraisal [Scoping and Interim Reports, incorporating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA); and Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) Baseline Study] and Section 75 Screening.

What happens next

As part of the LDP preparation process, the Council are required by law to publish a formal report on this consultation exercise once it is completed.

If you do provide personal data to the Council it will be processed securely and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016. The Public Consultation Report will be published on the Council’s website and will also be considered during the Independent Examination of the Plan Strategy.

It should be noted that your responses are public documents and may be disclosed following receipt of a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information regulations 2004.

Anonymous comments or comments which do not directly relate to the POP will not be considered as part of the consultation process.