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Patsy McGlone
30th November 2010
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
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