To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the reasons for the delay to call-in planning application reference LA05/2018/1154/O following Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s decision to approve in April 2021.

AQW 29827/17-22

Planning application LA05/2018/1154/O (for a mixed use development at Blaris, Lisburn, to include new housing (1300 dwellings) and commercial floor space (754,000 square feet), a 1.6km M1-Knockmore link road, riverside parkland and ancillary works) was notified to my Department on 12 May 2021. Under the terms of section 29 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, it was subsequently referred to my Department (‘called in’) on 4 January 2022.

Whilst the majority of notifications received by my Department are processed within 28 days of receipt, some are much more complex and require further time to consider. In such cases my Department has the power to extend this time, under the terms of Article 17 of the Planning (General Development Procedure) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015. This was the case in relation to the above planning application, but I can assure you that the decision was taken to ‘call in’ this application as soon as it was appropriate to do so.