‘Enforcement action time needs to be quicker’

Mr Jonathan Craig has said this needs to be rectified.

This average time was revealed after Mr Craig asked the Minister of the Environment Alex Attwood to detail the length of time for enforcement action to be taken in the Lisburn area.

Mr Craig said: “There were some 368 Enforcement cases within the area and almost one-third, ie, 113 were more than three years old.”

He continued: “Whilst this information has come to light, through questioning the Minister, it is quite clear to see that Enforcement has become ineffective in the Lisburn City area and points to an element of the Planning Department in Downpatrick that is clearly overloaded with work.

“This is something that I will be asking the Minister to rectify urgently. At present, he has allocated additional resources, two - three people to work on these cases. Given the scale that has been revealed, the Minister must take urgent action to try to get this situation in the Lisburn City Council area turned around.

“Where the breach of planning regulations cannot be resolved informally, I think it is important that Enforcement actions are implemented quickly and efficiently.

“Some people clearly have been using and abusing the system with regard to the lack of Enforcement and this needs to be rectified and corrected by the Department and brought to a stop,” added Mr Craig.