Councils prepare for new planning responsibilities

More than 200 local government delegates, including Moyle’s councillor Robert McIlroy, attended a seminar to help prepare councils for their upcoming duty of community planning.
Councillor Robert McIlroy from Moyle District Council and Department of the Environment (DOE) Director Linda MacHugh were among 200 delegates who attended a DOE seminar to help councils prepare for their new community planning role which they will take forward from April 2015 under local government reform.  Community planning involves councils working with their local communities, statuatory bodies and agencies, to ensure that citizens' needs are at the heart of decision-making on local services.Councillor Robert McIlroy from Moyle District Council and Department of the Environment (DOE) Director Linda MacHugh were among 200 delegates who attended a DOE seminar to help councils prepare for their new community planning role which they will take forward from April 2015 under local government reform.  Community planning involves councils working with their local communities, statuatory bodies and agencies, to ensure that citizens' needs are at the heart of decision-making on local services.
Councillor Robert McIlroy from Moyle District Council and Department of the Environment (DOE) Director Linda MacHugh were among 200 delegates who attended a DOE seminar to help councils prepare for their new community planning role which they will take forward from April 2015 under local government reform. Community planning involves councils working with their local communities, statuatory bodies and agencies, to ensure that citizens' needs are at the heart of decision-making on local services.

Hosted by the Department of the Environment at the Tullyglass Hotel, Ballymena, the event examined the recently published Community Planning Foundation Programme and the part it plays in councils’ preparations for community planning – a duty they will take forward from April 2015 under local government reform.

Environment Minister Mark H Durkan said: “Community planning involves integrating all the various streams of public life, such as the services and functions that are delivered in an area.”