Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

Pre-application community consultation

27.—(1) Before submitting an application for planning permission for a major development (except a development to which section 213 applies), the prospective applicant must comply with the following provisions of this section.

(2) The prospective applicant must give notice (to be known as a “proposal of application notice”) to the appropriate council that an application for planning permission for the development is to be submitted.

(3) A period of at least 12 weeks must elapse between giving the notice and submitting any such application.

(4) A proposal of application notice must be in such form, and have such content, as may be prescribed but must in any event contain—

(a) a description in general terms of the development to be carried out;

(b) if the site at which the development is to be carried out has a postal address, that address;

(c) a plan showing the outline of the site at which the development is to be carried out and sufficient to identify that site, and

(d) details as to how the prospective applicant may be contacted and corresponded with.

(5) Regulations may—

(a) require that the proposal of application notice be given to persons specified in the regulations,

(b) prescribe—

(i) the persons who are to be consulted as respects a proposed application, and

(ii) the form that consultation is to take.

(6) The council may, provided that it does so within the period of 21 days after receiving the proposal of application notice, notify the prospective applicant that it requires (either or both)—

(a) that the proposal of application notice be given to persons additional to those specified under subsection (5) (specifying in the notification who those persons are);

(b) that consultation additional to any required by virtue of subsection (5)(b) be undertaken as regards the proposed development (specifying in the notification what form that consultation is to take).

(7) In considering whether to give notification under subsection (6) the council is to have regard to the nature, extent and location of the proposed development and to the likely effects, at and in the vicinity of that location, of its being carried out.

(8) In the case of an application for planning permission to be made to the Department, this section has effect as if any reference to a council were a reference to the Department.