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The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has provided Derry City and Strabane District Council's Planning Committee with formal direction to proceed with the council's new Local Development Plan (LDP) Plan Strategy.
The LDP is an important document which sets out the council's planning strategy in relation to the development and use of land across the City and District up to 2032 and beyond.
The Adoption of the LDP Plan Strategy is now anticipated in April – May 2025, following the completion of a number of pre-adoption tasks, including the preparation of a series of Supplementary Planning Guidance documents.
Capacity building has already commenced in order to assist the immediate implementation of the LDP Plan Strategy. This will require a programme of familiarisation/training sessions for key consultees and members, as well as for planning agents.
Principal Planning Officer with the council, Proinsias McCaughey, told members at its monthly meeting of the Planning Committee, that the direction from DfI was another key milestone in the process of delivering the council's own LDP to manage the development of the city and district in a positive and sustainable way.
The committee was advised that the policies in the LDP Plan Strategy will commence to be applied, to a given weight, now that the direction has been received, considered and published.
Welcoming the report, Chair of the Planning Committee, Councillor Fergal Leonard, commended the work that had gone into the plan to date.
Cllr Leonard said: "This has been a lengthy and thorough process and I want to acknowledge the work and expertise that has gone into developing this framework which will shape the future development of our Council area until 2032 and beyond.
"Well done to all our planning officers and all the councillors who have shaped our new LDP, and also a big thank you to the public and the other stakeholders who have contributed throughout the various stages of the consultation process."
The council's planning team will now work to progress the required actions to move towards the formal adoption of the LDP Plan Strategy as soon as is reasonably practicable.
