‘Grave concern’ overStrand Road shops

These were some of the revelations made at a Stormont debate on the number of outstanding planning applications for the Londonderry area last week.

Sinn Féin MLA Maeve McLaughlin claimed that the Londonderry Area Plan was based on research that commenced in 1993 and was therefore long past its sell-by date.

She told MLAs that Londonderry suffers “huge delays in decisions around out-of-town applications” and “has no statutory planning guidance to protect our current city centre, which is struggling daily.”

She added: “The Derry Area Plan was adopted in May 2000. Work had commenced on that in January 1993. The research was dated from 1993 to 1996, so the retail monitoring information that was used is nearly 20 years old.

“Therefore, we now have a very out-of-date plan, which is still used as a material consideration, and often primary consideration, for the city.”

During the debate she referred to a Londonderry retail study which was revealed at the end of August.

The local MLA explained that amongst the report’s conclusions was that: “The level of retail vacancy in and around the Strand Road is of great concern to the department and a situation that will continue to be monitored.”

SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood also contributed to the debate. He claimed that he had been “lobbied by developers, residents and city-centre traders on all sides of the argument.”

Said Mr Eastwood: “The fact is that there is no simple answer to each and every one of the proposed developments. What is true, though, is that there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the retail future of our city. I would not want any Minister to take those decisions lightly.”

Environment Minister Alex Attwood rejected some of the criticism levelled at him by Mrs McLaughlin.

He asked her to look at the decisions that had been made for the Londonderry area over the past 18 months.

“You will see four or five hotel decisions,” he said. “That is not hindering planning and development in Derry; that is enabling development in Derry.”

He continued: “You will see a whole catalogue of restoration planning approvals, making and shaping the city in advance of the year of culture. “Extra money came from the Department for Social Development (DSD) arising from the comprehensive spending review bid when I was Minister, to ensure that the city looks its best for 2013.

“Planning approvals for sites such as the Vital Venue and the lighting strategy all require planning approval. That has all been processed in double quick time by DOE over the past 18 months.

“In my view, that tells part of the tale of planning in Derry. Part of that tale is not that processes hinder planning development, but, in many instances, as the 2013 projects, the hotel decisions and the venue decisions demonstrate, there is a good narrative around planning in Derry.

“The best example of that is the Peace Bridge. Due to the constraints of EU funding timelines, a decision was made very quickly and very well by the planning authorities, to the point that the Peace Bridge has won national awards and has been entered in international competitions, not just in respect of the design but in respect of the planning. That is part of the story about Derry.”