AQW 4184/22-27 Written question to the Minister for Infrastructure
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the average length of time taken by his Department to determine the outcome of a major planning application, in each of the last five years.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 6 October 2022
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 6 October 2022
- Answer due by
- 21 October 2022
- Answered
- 21 October 202215 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Infrastructure
- Priority question
- No
Answer
From 1 April 2017 - 30 June 2022, there have been 32 major applications processed by my Department with 29 decisions issued and 3 applications withdrawn. The average processing time for these applications was 187.4 weeks.
The data below from 2017/18 provides information for the last five full years and the first three months of the current year (April-June 2022), showing major planning applications processed to decision by my Department or withdrawn by the applicant.
| Year | Approved | Refused | Withdrawn | Average processing time (weeks)2 | ||||
| 2017/18 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 169.0 | ||||
| 2018/19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 383.2 | ||||
| 2019/20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 30.3 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 350.4 | ||||
| 2021/22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 160.8 | ||||
| 2022/23 (Apr-Jun 22)1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 610.0 | ||||
| Total | 25 | 4 | 3 | 187.4 | ||||
Source: NI Planning Portal
Notes:
1 Quarterly estimates for 2022/23 are provisional and will be subject to revision
2 The time taken to process a decision/withdrawal is deemed valid to the date on which the decision is issued, or the application is withdrawn. The median is used for the average processing time as any extreme values have the potential to inflate the mean, leading to a result that may not be considered as "typical".