MCGLONE: EQUALITY MUST BE AT THE HEART OF DECISION MAKING

SDLP Deputy Chair of the Environment Committee Patsy McGlone MLA has said safeguards must be put in place to ensure that there is no discrimination by local councillors or officers when planning powers are transferred to councils.

The Mid Ulster MLA said: “The SDLP are very much in favour of local democracy with councillors making planning decisions about their local area, provided that there are robust safeguards in place to prevent an abuse of the system.

“It is crucially important that equality, fairness and accountability are at the heart of decision making so as to avoid the problems that were encountered in the past when planning powers were with local councils and subsequently had to be transferred to central government.

“I have also told the Environment Minister that it is vital that ratepayers, who are already finding things tough at the moment, are not forced to fork out to cover the cost of this planning reform.

“Checks and balances must be enforced to ensure that no elected representative or local planning officer could discriminate against individuals or communities due to this change in the planning system and transparency is at its core. We have to learn from the failings of the past and see that they are not repeated in the transfer of these powers.”

ENDS