§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what factors led to the exclusion of the area plans for the Down and Newry and Mourne district council areas from the Planning Agency's business case for the financial year 1996–97. [4264]
(2) what is the time scale for the commencement and execution of the work required in respect of the Down and Newry and Mourne area plans; [4265]
(3) when the business and corporate plan for the Planning Agency for 1997–98 will be published. [4266]
Mr. MurphyResponsibility for this subject 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 Eddie McGrady, dated 20 June 1997:
Lord Dubs has asked me to reply to your questions about the Down and Newry and Mourne area plans, and also about the publication of the Planning Service's Corporate and Business Plan 1997–98.Only Development Plans which were to be adopted in 1996–97 were included in the Agency's Business Plan for that year. The position is the same for the 1997–98 Business Plan, published ealrier this month, a copy of which is available in the Library. When drawing up plans for 1998–99 and future years, the programming of work on both plans will be taken into account in accordance with competing priorities and available resources. At present, there is no agreed time-scale for the commencement and execution of the work.Although the notional end date for the Down Area Plan is late 1997 and for the Newry and Mourne Area Plan late 1999, they will remain material planning considerations in the determination of any planning applications submitted after those dates.