HC Deb 21 January 2004 vol 416 c1292W
Mrs. Iris Robinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what he recommends as a reasonable period of time before an applicant can expect to be informed whether his or her planning application is successful. [148814]

Angela Smith

Planning Service is committed to processing all valid planning applications as expeditiously as possible. This is reflected in the Agency's Corporate and Business Plans 2003–04 to 2005–06. But there will be cases which, due to their complexity and scale, take longer.