Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to publish the Strategic Framework for Northern Ireland; if decisions for planning applications for housing schemes at Carryduff will be delayed until after the publication of the Strategic Framework; and if he will make a statement about the future of housing development in Carryduff and District. [94556]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe Regional Strategic Framework for Northern Ireland is not expected to be published until Spring 2000. A draft of the Regional Strategy is presently the subject of a Public Examination and the independent panel conducting the examination will not submit its report to the Department of the Environment until the end of 1999. Thereafter, it is expected that the matter will be considered by the new Northern Ireland Assembly before the Regional Strategy is finalised.
As regards decisions on existing planning applications for housing schemes at Carryduff, the position is that these applications are incomplete and cannot be processed until Environmental Statements have been submitted in support of the proposals. Only when the Environmental Statements have been submitted will the Department be in a position to decide how the applications can be progressed.
The matter of future housing in Carryduff and District will be for the forthcoming Belfast Metropolitan Area (BMA) Plan; the BMA Plan will have due regard for strategic principles resolved by, and contained in, the final versions of the Regional Strategy.