21 September 2007
Northern Ireland's planning regime has been left in limbo after Belfast's High Court ruled that former direct rule minister Lord Rooker had unlawfully taken a decision to ban most home building in isolated rural areas.
Rooker had made the decision in his capacity as regional development minister, but the court ruled that the decision should have been taken by the planning minister – a position Rooker also held at the time.
Planning regulation PPS14 imposed the highly contentious policy of permitting new dwellings in isolated rural areas only in exceptional circumstances, putting an end to a growing problem of 'bungalow blight'. As a result, almost 4,000 planning applications have been refused in the past 18 months.
But the successful legal action, which was brought by Omagh District Council, means that Northern Ireland's Planning Service might now be forced to reconsider all the rejected applications, plunging the already overworked service into chaos.
PFsep2007
