Speaking at Parliament Buildings earlier today she said: “I know that the issue of building in the countryside has raised strong feelings among people in Northern Ireland. Over eight thousand people responded to the consultation on draft PPS14. They recognised that the patterns of development that existed pre-PPS14 were not sustainable. But they also thought PPS14 was too restrictive.
“I also know that many feel that they have very solid reasons for wanting to build in rural areas.
“As Environment Minister, my aim is to develop a policy based on the principles of sustainability. That means striking a balance between the need to protect our countryside from unnecessary development and the need to support our rural communities, allowing them to flourish, socially and economically.
“After studying the issue, the Executive Sub-Committee which I chair feels that it is right to:
"Replace the much maligned “farm viability test” with a criterion which more appropriately reflects current farming practices.
“Take a more flexible approach to the reuse and, where appropriate, the replacement of existing dwellings and other buidings.
“Allow greater scope for affordable and social housing.
“Reintroduce the personal and domestic circumstances policy to help people who would suffer genuine hardship if they could not live on a specific site.
“We are also considering relaxations for the appropriate development of small groups of houses.”
Arlene Foster said that her sub-committee was making good progress and is on track to make recommendations to the Executive Committee so that a revised draft PPS14 can be published with immediate effect at the end of April, at which point there will be full public consultation for four months.
Notes to Editors:
Draft Planning Policy Statement 14, “Sustainable Development in the Countryside” (draft PPS14) was published by Direct Rule Ministers in March 2006 to address the significant development pressure affecting rural areas reducing its value as a regional asset and creating additional and unnecessary problems for the supply of infrastructure and services. It applied a presumption against development outside settlements, which hitherto had applied only in Greenbelts and Countryside Protection Areas (CPAs), across the whole of rural Northern Ireland.
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