Property and Planning Development

Part of the debate – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 4:45 pm on 22 February 1999.

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Photo of Jim Shannon Jim Shannon DUP 4:45, 22 February 1999

I agree. I was about to make another point which would have illustrated that.

The North Down and Ards Area Plan was supposed to be finished in 1996, but here we are in 1999 and it is no nearer completion today. We have been told that it might not be finished until 2002. However, we on Ards Borough Council have pressed the point that this plan must be finished by the year 2000. We believe those issues have to be dealt with.

My Colleague Mr Sammy Wilson will agree on what development will be like in the future. Gone are the days when a developer could have built houses here, there and everywhere and then gone away. In future, a builder will have to ensure that a strategic road structure is in place to take the traffic and that a traffic impact study has been done on any development. He will have to check that the sewerage system and the leisure services can cope with the extra houses. The developer will have to provide green areas within the development for playgrounds. Land will have to be set aside for health clinics and schools. In future, that type of strategic plan will have to be in place before any building can commence.