Department for Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd has announced amendments to The Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015.

The amendments will introduce new powers to enable councils to prepare and publish planning application validation checklists.

The validation checklists will help inform applicants on the level and type of information required to be submitted along with their planning application.

"This move is designed to improve planning performance with better quality applications entering the system, resulting in shorter processing times, more efficient consultee responses and quicker planning decisions," said Minister O'Dowd.

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"I am committed to improving the planning process and these legislative amendments have been introduced as a result of the Department’s Planning Improvement Programme which is aimed at creating an efficient, effective and equitable planning system trusted to deliver high quality, sustainable, inclusive and healthy places."

The current minimum statutory requirements remain unchanged, however, the new lists will set out the additional supporting information required to accompany different types of planning applications, specific and proportionate to the type of development proposed, including its nature, scale and location.

Planning applications will now only be considered valid when they comply with all the information requirements contained in a council’s published checklist.

The Order and Explanatory Memorandum will be available in due course at www.legislation.gov.uk.