§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the planning system to accommodate low impact development; and if he will make a statement. [3357]
§ Mr. MossResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Planning Service under its chief executive, Mr. T. W. Stewart. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from T. W. Stewart to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 10 December 1996:
As you know, Mr. Moss recently asked me to write to you in reply to a number of Questions which you had raised in the House. My letters of 13 November 1996 addressed Questions 1650, 1651, 1652, 1653, 1654 and 1655, however, the letter sent in reply to PQ 1659 was a copy of the letter sent in reply to PQ 1651. I apologise for the oversight and for any confusion this might have caused.Your Question asked about an assessment of the capacity of the planning system to accommodate low impact development.The Planning Service has made no such assessment. We will, however, monitor the outcome of any assessment undertaken in the rest of the United Kingdom, and assess what relevance, if any, it may have for Northern Ireland.