| Current status | Report forwarded to DFI |
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30th November 2022
The Commissioner’s report following independent examination of the draft Plan Strategy has been forwarded to the Department for Infrastructure.
Release of that report is solely a matter for the Department.
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27th May 2022
The public hearing sessions have now finished and the protocol for the remainder of the independent examination is set out in the closing notes. This document can be found on the Lisburn & Castlereagh Examination Library page [Ref ED008]
The Commissioner thanks all participants for their valuable contribution to the process.
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25th May 2022
The Matters arising from Week 3 of the public hearing sessions have been added to our dedicated Matters Arising webpage (here)
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20th May 2022
As previously advised, the Hearing session on Monday 23 May will start at 10am, resume at 2pm and the Commissioner aims to deliver 2 x 2 hour long sessions, with no more than an additional 15 minutes but only if this would enable the finish of discussion on a topic. As usual, participants are asked to join the session at least 15 minutes before it commences.
There will be a follow-on session starting at 10am on Thursday 26th May 2022 to consider questions 64-91 inclusive of Topic 16. Parties should make themselves available for 2 x 2.5 hour sessions on that day. Invites will follow in due course.
If a further follow-on session is required on Friday 26th May, it will start at 09.30, resume at 14.00 and parties should make themselves available for at least 2 x 2.5 hour sessions on that day.
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17th May 2022
The Hearing sessions on Wednesday18 May and Monday 23 May will start at 10am, resume at 2pm and the Commissioner aims to deliver 2 x 2 hour long sessions, with no more than an additional 15 minutes but only if this would enable the finish of discussion on a topic. As usual, participants are asked to join the session at least 15 minutes before it commences.
There will be a follow-on session starting at 10am on Thursday 19th May 2022 to consider issue 1 of Topic 16, namely settlement hierarchy (questions 1 to 7). Invites for that follow-on session will issue in due course.
If discussion of issues 2 and/or 3 of topic 16 are not concluded on Wednesday 18 May, they will resume after issue 1 has been considered at that follow-on session. If required, the follow-on session on Thursday 20 will continue in the afternoon.
The Hearings Programme already provides for possible follow-on days on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May if required. Therefore, if discussion on the entirety of Topic 16 has not been concluded on the afternoon of Thursday 19 May, it will resume at 10am on Thursday 26 May.
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16th May 2022
The scheduled Hearing sessions on Tuesday 17 May, Wednesday18 May and Monday 23 May will start at 10am, resume at 2pm and the Commissioner aims to deliver 2 x 2 hour long sessions, with no more than an additional 15 minutes but only if this would enable the finish of discussion on a topic. As usual, participants are asked to join the session at least 15 minutes before it commences.
There will be a follow-on session starting at 10am on Thursday 19th May 2022 to consider issue 1 of Topic 16, namely settlement hierarchy (questions 1 to 7). Invites for that follow-on session will issue in due course.
If discussion of issues 2 and/or 3 of topic 16 are not concluded on Wednesday 18 May, they will resume after issue 1 has been considered at that follow-on session.
The Commission has also updated the Hearing Programme for Weeks 3 & 4 (Version 4)
This document [ED005] is available on our Examination Library webpage (here)
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13th May 2022
The Commission has a YouTube Channel to stream the hearing sessions live.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCOzcxPyBJzH3XbF13M_t52w
Those wishing to view the sessions should go to our channel and select the video tab on this page.
On Desktop and Laptop devices you should be able to select "Upcoming live streams" however on Mobile or Tablet devices you may need to refresh this page once the hearing commences for the stream to appear.
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11th May 2022
The Commission has updated the Hearing Programme for Weeks 3 & 4 (Version 3)
This document [ED005] is available on our Examination Library webpage (here)
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15th April 2022
The Commission has updated the Questions for Weeks 3 & 4 (Version 2) [ED007] this is available to view here. The update made to this document is a number of typographical errors, the addition of text to question 1 on page 4 (highlighted in red) and the substitution of question 77 on page 16. The parties eligible to participate on this question have been notified of this change.
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12th April 2022
The Matters arising from Week 2 of the public hearing sessions have been added to our dedicated Matters Arising webpage (here)
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5th April 2022
During the course of the public hearing sessions matters may arise during discussion where the Commissioner may ask a participant to provide further information and/or documentation. These ‘Matters arising’ will be collated and published on a weekly basis to the Commission’s website. The Matters for Week 1 have been added to our dedicated Matters Arising webpage (here)
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30th March 2022
At the hearing session today (Wednesday 30th March 2022) the discussion regarding Sprucefield Regional Shopping Centre was not concluded.
The Commissioner will therefore continue this hearing session on Thursday 31st March 2022 starting at 10.00am and will deal with questions 24 - 48 as set out in the Questions for Week 1 & 2 document. (ED004) This is available on our Examination Library webpage (here)
Those parties eligible to participate will receive an invitation in due course.
The session will also be live streamed on our YouTube channel from 10:00am.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCOzcxPyBJzH3XbF13M_t52w
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29th March 2022
The Commission has updated the Hearing Programme for Weeks 3 & 4 (Version 2)
This document [ED005] is available on our Examination Library webpage (here)
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28th March 2022
The opening notes [Ref ED006] for the Independent Examination are now available on our Examination Library webpage (here)
The Commission has published the Questions [ED007] for the public hearing sessions of the Independent examination (Weeks 3 & 4) to be conducted from Monday 16th May 2022 - Friday 27th May 2022 inclusive. This document is also available on our Examination library webpage.
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24th March 2022
The Commission has a YouTube Channel to stream the hearing sessions live.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCOzcxPyBJzH3XbF13M_t52w
Those wishing to view the sessions should go to our channel and select the video tab on this page.
On Desktop and Laptop devices you should be able to select "Upcoming live streams" however on Mobile or Tablet devices you may need to refresh this page once the hearing commences for the stream to appear.
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15th March 2022
The Commission has published the Hearing Programme for Weeks 3 & 4 of the Independent examination, to be conducted from Monday 16th May 2022 - Friday 27th May 2022 inclusive. This document can be found on our LC Examination Library page here [Ref ED005]
The Commission has also updated the Hearing Programme for Weeks 1 & 2 (Version 4) [ED003] this is also available to view on our LC Examination Library page.
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7th March 2022
The Commission has updated the document Questions for Weeks 1 & 2 (Version 2) [ED004] this is available to view in the Lisburn & Castlereagh Examination Library. The update made to this document is limited to the addition of question 11A on page 3 and the substitution of question 22 on page 5. Those parties eligible to participate on these questions have been notified of this change.
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3rd March 2022
The Commission has updated the Hearing Programme (Version 3) [ED003] which is available to view in the Lisburn & Castlereagh Examination Library
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22nd February 2022
The Commission has published the Questions [ED004] for the initial public hearing sessions of the Independent examination (Weeks 1 & 2) to be conducted from Monday 28th March 2022 - Friday 8th April 2022 inclusive.
The Commission has also updated the Hearing programme [ED003] after contacting all those eligible to participate in the initial hearing sessions.
These documents can be found on our Lisburn & Castlereagh Examination Library page here
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28th January 2022
The Commission has published the Remote Hearings Protocol, Guidance Notes, and the Hearing Programme for the initial public hearing sessions of the Independent examination, to be conducted from Monday 28th March 2022 - Friday 8th April 2022 inclusive. These documents can be found on our LC Examination Library page here [Ref ED001 - ED003]
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11th October 2021
The Department for Infrastructure has appointed the Planning Appeals Commission to conduct an Independent Examination of the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Local Development Plan. Programme Officer, James Bickerstaff, has reviewed the draft Plan Strategy documents supplied directly by Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and the Commission has assigned Commissioner Julie de-Courcey to perform the IE.
The Commissioner will proceed to undertaking a series of checks to ensure that all essential regulatory steps have been taken by the Council and to identify any fundamental concerns about the soundness of the plan. Following these checks, the Commissioner may request further written evidence and an exploratory meeting may be held. If an exploratory meeting is not required we will proceed to arrange the hearing sessions.
The Programme Officer will make contact with all parties who made representations in due course. All communications in relation to this examination should be directed to James Bickerstaff, on 028 9089 3919 or by sending an email to LC.LDP@pacni.gov.uk .
Further information regarding the Commission’s procedures for Independent Examinations can be found in our procedures document here.