Councillors give local planning service their full backing

Local members of the Planning Service were out in force last month protesting against the news that a third of jobs are to be cut from the service.

At last Thursday night’s Public Sector Liaison Committee meeting, councillor Tommy Nicholl called on the council to write to Environment Minister Edwin Poots who has told the Stormont environment committee, that he wants to redeploy about 300 Department of Environment staff.

Councillor Nicholl said: “This will have an effect on the Ballymena office in how planning applications are handled. It will also mean streamlining applications could be done away with. If there is a reduction in staff I don’t think it would be good for Ballymena.

“Could we possibly write to the Minister saying we don’t want changes that would cause a reduction in the service? I think we should also state that we all would agree that the planning service has improved dramatically.”

Councillor Paul Frew told the meeting he didn’t think these cuts were the best way of fixing financial problems, he said: “I think that we all realize that we are in for a rough couple of years. I don’t think front line staff is the right place for cuts, we need to think very carefully about where the cuts are.”

While Deputy Mayor of Ballymena PJ McAvoy said: “They seem to think that local councils can resolve the problems that central governments create.”