Environment Minister Edwin Poots has introduced changes to planning fees to make them simpler and fairer.

The new structure addresses current imbalances which see smaller development proposals attract disproportionately higher planning fees compared with much larger, more complex applications which involve significantly more resources to handle.

Mr Poots said: “A properly resourced planning system is central to delivering jobs and profits for Northern Ireland. By relating the fee charged to the scale and complexity of the development proposal, I am making the fees structure fairer and more transparent. The revised fees will end the current situation whereby the costs of processing planning applications for the very largest and most complex developments are subsidised by fees from smaller developments and by the tax payer. This is not sustainable.

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“These changes will ensure that the planning system is properly resourced and fit to play its full part in supporting economic development and protecting our natural and built heritage.”

The changes, which take effect on 11 April, include a new charge for applications requiring an environmental statement and higher maximum fees for certain categories of application, bringing them more into line with England and Wales. Fees for applications for single dwellings will be lower in the vast majority of cases.

(GK/KMcA)