Minister ok to planning fee rise

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Planning application fees in NI could rise by 20%, it has emerged.

The proposed hike is essential to save jobs within the cash-strapped Planning Service, Stormont's Environment committee heard on Thursday.

A top civil servant told members that annual revenue from planning applications had dropped by £4.5m. Last year it had been been around £21m.

The committee heard that Environment Minister Sammy Wilson had already agreed to an increase in tariffs.

These currently range from £130 for certificates for minor home building work to thousands of pounds for major commercial and business developments.

The plan brought criticism from committee members who questioned the impact on an already struggling construction industry.

Stephen Peover, permanent secretary at the Department of Environment, said: "The intention is to come forward with a proposal for a 20% increase in planning application fees.

'Laying off'

"If we were a business, if the department were a commercial business, I would be laying off considerable numbers of Planning Service staff because we cannot afford to pay for them."

Chair of the Environment committee Patsy McGlone said additional costs would put an extra burden on those working in construction.

"I'm sure those of us who do represent constituencies with a lot of self-employed builders and contractors and the likes and people servicing them don't rate a 20% increase in planning fees as any particular incentive to stimulate the industry," said the SDLP Mid Ulster representative.

But Mr Peover said damage could be sustained to the Planning Service if the fees were not increased.

"We face the prospect of two real risks," he said.

'Staff on tap'

"One that there will be an upturn in planning applications, the economy will begin to improve, and we'll begin to see planning applications turn up again and we will not have the experienced staff on tap to deal with them if we can't afford to employ them.

"The second risk is we are proposing to transfer the whole function to local government in May 2011, less than two years away now.

"If we were to allow it to run down in the intervening two years we would be handing over to local government, possibly just at the time when an economic upturn is happening, an under-funded, under-resourced and under-staffed Planning service."