The number of planning applications submitted to Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure has fallen by 3%.

A total of 12,541 planning applications were received during 2018/19, comprising 12,404 local and 137 major applications.

Over the same period, 12,156 planning applications were decided, another decrease of over 1% from the previous financial year.

The processing time for major applications saw one of the biggest changes, with the average time across all councils in 2018/19 sitting at almost double the target of 30 weeks. This 59-week average also represented an increase of almost nine weeks from last year.

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Only three councils across Northern Ireland met the 30 week target.

Despite some concerning figures, the average wait time to process local applications to decision or withdrawal was within the 15 week target at 14.8 weeks, an improvement of 0.4 weeks from 2017/18.

The full Northern Ireland Planning Statistics 2018/19 Annual Statistical Bulletin is available on the Department for Infrastructure website here.

(CM/JG)