A new report has revealed Derry City and Strabane District Council's Planning Service experienced the highest number of Local Applications across Northern Ireland in 2020/21.

The DfI Northern Ireland Planning Statistics 2020/21 Annual Statistical Bulletin revealed the local authority performed highly over the period, accounting for 14.9% of local applications across NI and being only one of three councils to meet its Local Target.

The report, which is a statistical publication collated by NISRA, provides finalised activity and performance figures for 2020/21 and contains detailed information and analyses across all 11 of the local Councils.

Head of Planning with Council, Maura Fox, explained that Derry City and Strabane District Council received the highest reduction in 12 month cases in NI from 26.2% to 18.2%, a reduction of 8%.

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She added that Council still remained the second highest approval rate in NI, with a figure of 98.6%.

The Planning Chief said it had been a good year for the Council's Planning team, who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to provide this essential service and also to deal with an increase in applications.

She said improvement in the enforcement target was particularly noteworthy, as well as the work being done to address historic cases and a backlog of applications that can sometimes easily eschew other good performances due to the low overall numbers.

Deputy Chairperson of the Committee, Cllr Kieran McGuire, who chaired yesterday's meeting, acknowledged the important role of Council Planning officers and praised the ongoing progress in the processing of applications despite the current limitations and challenges.

He said while these were unique and challenging circumstances, every effort was being made to continue to make positive progress with all Planning services. He reassured the public that Council acknowledges the importance of the service and remains committed to move forward with decisions and processes as best they can.