A pilot project being run by Land & Property Services (LPS) to bring all its services together under one roof for ease of access has been hailed a success.

NI Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, visited the new 'one-stop shop' in Ballymena for members of the public with rating, valuation, land registry, or mapping-related queries.

Mr Wilson said: "This pilot project is seeing LPS making its services available to people in their own areas.

"With the opening of this centre customers are able to access a range of products and services, many of which would previously only have been available in Belfast.

"Since its opening at the end of October, customers have been able to access services in relation to rating, land registration, valuation and mapping in one place rather than having to travel between buildings, or even to Belfast.

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"LPS will be closely monitoring the performance of the centre over the coming year to gauge how well it meets the needs of customers," he said.

"I would encourage the people of Ballymena and beyond to visit the centre to see for themselves the enhanced range of products and services now available in their local area."

The services available in the Customer Information Centre include rates queries; valuation applications for revisions; Land Registration and ACE maps for planning permission; a selection of standard printed and historical maps; and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland paper maps.

John Wilkinson, Chief Executive of LPS said: Providing an excellent service to our customers is one of our key priorities.

"With that in mind we developed the Ballymena Customer Information Centre which is the first truly integrated LPS service in Northern Ireland.

"Even at this early stage, customer feedback has been excellent and it’s clear that people enjoy the convenience of having our enhanced range of services on their doorstep."

(BMcC/GK)