Figures published in the latest Annual Development Management Bulletin reveal that the number of planning applications being submitted in Northern Ireland has halved in five years, falling from just over 27,000 in 2006/07 to just over 13,500 in 2011/12.

Even when compared with only a year ago, commercial applications are down by as much as 55% while residential applications are down by almost one third (32%).

Planning performance, in terms of application processing times for Major, Intermediate, and Minor applications for 2011/12 were all lower than the levels achieved for last year with none of the targets for these categories having been met. At sub-regional level, the Western area office had the shortest average processing times across all three application category types, whilst Headquarters had the longest average processing time for major applications (though Headquarter applications are more likely to be particularly complex or controversial). Southern area has the longest in respect of intermediate and minor application types.

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Applications received

•In 2011/12, Planning received 13,680 planning applications. This is a decrease of 18% compared with 2010/11. The fall in planning applications for residential development was noteworthy for the year, down by a third when compared with last year (32%). Also, commercial developments, which include retail and office developments, have continued to fall sharply. There has been a drop of 55% compared with last year, from 1,280 in 2010/11 applications to 580 in 2011/12.

Applications decided

•Planning issued decisions on 14,509 applications in 2011/12, down 10% on the number issued for last year (16,191).

•The number of decisions issued for full planning permission was 11,362. This makes up the bulk of the type of planning application against which a decision was issue (78% of all decisions issued).

•Planning issued more decisions than applications received. This will be because of planning applications that were in the system prior to the start of the year.

Applications approved

•Overall, 92% of decisions issued for planning applications in 2011/12 were approved. This is three percentage points higher than the same period last year (89%).

Applications received for residential development

•The number of residential applications received in urban areas fell by over a third (down 1,816 or 36%) when compared with 2010/11, from 4,999 to 3,183. The number of residential applications received in rural areas fell by 28%, from 6,392 to 4,588.

Applications decided for residential development

•In terms of the decisions issued for residential development, those in urban areas fell by a quarter (26%), from 4,948 in 2010/11 to 3,645 in 2011/12. Decisions issued for residential development in rural areas fell by a fifth, down 20% from 6,812 to 5,440.

(CD)