Statutory Roles

Council was established in 1974 under the provisions of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. This was subsequently repealed and an amended Planning (NI) Order was passed in 1991. Other legislation affecting Council's role includes the Planning (General Development) Order 1992 and Planning Amendment Bill 2004.

Policies and Development Plans (known as Area Plans)

In addition to the provisions of this legislation Council is also consulted on Planning Policy Statements, Development Plans and development control applications. Some of our responses to these areas of planning can be found on our consultation page. The text of PPSs and Development Plans can be found on the Planning Service web site. The main PPS affecting Council is PPS6 - Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage.

Full text of the legislation and PPSs and Development Plans can be found on the Planning Service website .

The Council's functions set out in these areas of legislation can be summarised as follows:

(a) Keeping under review, and from time-to-time reporting to the DOE on the general state of preservation of listed buildings.
(b) To advise the DOE on such matters relating to the preservation of buildings of special architectural or historic interest and
(c) To advise the DOE on the designation of areas of special architectural or historic interest (Conservation Areas)