Question Time: Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister Monday 18 November 2013
The stalled
Planning Bill was on the agenda in Question
Time to the First Minister, Peter Robinson. Michael Copeland was keen to
know what action would now be taken after the Environment Minister, Mark
Durkan, elected not
to move forward with the Bill amid concerns
regarding DUP and Sinn Fein amendments
passed in June.
The Environment Minister feared that the amendments represented a dilution
of his department’s powers and may compromise the right of appeal to
planning decisions. Mr Robinson revealed that he will be meeting with the
Environment Minister in due course and that he hopes they can reach agreement
because “planning continues to be a significant problem in Northern Ireland”. Potential
investors are being frustrated by our planning system as “it is internationally
recognised that Northern Ireland has a poor planning outcome” making it “a
challenging place in which to invest”. He countered that, while the proposed
amendments to the Bill might not be the only way that things can be done, “nobody
has suggested a better way of ensuring that we improve the system”.
The First
Minister also provided the House with an update on the Social Investment Fund.
89 projects have been ear-marked across 9 zones for funding. Currently £40m
worth of projects have passed through the robust appraisal process. These
projects will be informed shortly and there is “no reason why money cannot
start going out to those schemes immediately”. There is also hope for those
projects that weren’t approved initially. There might also be a limited amount
of funding made available for smaller projects – perhaps 50 projects receiving
£20,000 each for a further total investment of £1m.
During topical
questions Adrian McQuillan asked the First Minister for his thoughts on the
planned flag protest on 30 November to coincide with the anniversary of Belfast
City Council’s decision to only fly flags on selected days and the potential
disruption to business in the City Centre. Mr Robinson defended the right
of people to protest and picket as part of the democratic process but also
spoke of the rights of retailers to conduct business and consumers to spend. He
suggested that a weekday lunch time protest might be a “worthwhile compromise”.
Also
discussed during Question Time was the cost of the Haass talks process, the
devolution of further fiscal powers to Northern Ireland and the possibility of
further foreign investment.
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