BUSINESS FIRST NORTHERN IRELAND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2017
Planning Outlook – Investor Confidence to continue in 2017
Director of Planning at Strategic Planning , Richard Bowman gives his perspective on planning in Northern Ireland for 2017 .
ouncil ’ s planning powers were in their infancy in late 2015 , and a year later ,
Cnot an awful lot has changed in terms of efficiency of decision making . Confidence in development has returned and it is reflected in the variety of projects we are managing .
One interesting development during 2016 has been the increase in the number of officer recommendations on planning applications being overturned by Committee , such as the approval of permanent homes within the tourist project outside Hillsborough and the decision by Derry City Council to permit a social housing scheme outside City limits . As Councillors gain confidence in the planning process , this is something that we are going to see a lot more of in 2017 and it really brings to the fore the absolute necessity to include political lobbying in your planning strategy for a project of significance .
Many Councils have made significant headway on their Local Development Plans . Strategic Planning is currently advising a number of landowners / developers across Northern Ireland and we would strongly advise more interested parties to get involved in this process in the coming year .
The outcome of the legal challenge against the BMAP adoption finally arrived on 18th November . As predicted the judgment resulted in the saving of BMAP and the quashing of the part of the plan relating to bulky goods at Sprucefield .
The debate will continue however as Belfast City Council is set to appeal this judgment , so this is likely to rumble on through 2017 .
The ARC 21 energy from waste proposal at Hightown had been refused in 2015 . The public inquiry was held in October 2016 and the recommendation from the PAC is expected early in 2017 .
7500 student beds have been proposed over the past 2 years for Belfast , around 4000 of which have been approved . Demand is still high and we are continuing to get queries from investors about developing more beds despite the perception that there is now a glut in the city .
2017 is likely to see more proposals for student accommodation in central Belfast as the city still lags well behind other major UK cities in terms of provision per capita .
Demand for Grade A office developments continues to outstrip supply . Although the pipeline of projects looks good with McAleer and Rushe delivering 127,000 sqft on Adelaide St for Belfast City Council and a further 570,000sqft being approved over the
32 www . businessfirstonline . co . uk past year between the Kilmona Developments projects at East Bridge St , Londonderry House and Centre House and the McAleer and Rushe Bedford Square project .
Meanwhile , Stargime ’ s scheme at Queens Square will hopefully progress through planning in early 2017 for around 65,000sqft and their 80,000sqft proposal for Graham House will be submitted for planning in January . We are also managing a 60,000sqft application for Inislyn in the Gasworks .
All this city centre commercial investment must lead to more people living in the city centre , a sector which is still seriously underrepresented in the central Belfast and one which the Council is keen to support .
Elsewhere , the residential market appears steady and we are progressing a healthy number of residential proposals for realistic and deliverable projects .
It is now looking more likely that each Council will formulate its own policy on residential developer contributions ( relating to social housing ).
An increasing number of Councils , have been exercising their powers under Section 76 of the Planning Act to secure developer contributions towards public realm works , on the back of approvals for the likes of student accommodation and office developments in the city centre .
This is the start of a new regime that developers are going to have to get used to . The spread of new retailers increased during 2016 , with Greggs opening seven new shops and a further 10 planned for 2017 .
We recently secured approval for an Evans Cycles store on Boucher Road and EZ Living in Shane Retail Park . Sports Direct still have big plans for Northern Ireland and will hopefully make their mark during 2017 .
Major deals that will play out during
2017 will include Sirocco new plans are predicted to be much more commercial led than the previous residential one ; Neptune ’ s purchase of the majority of the Blaris lands at Lisburn should lead to an application for phase 1 in autumn 2017 ; Ellandi buying Bloomfield , Erneside and Showgrounds ; Lotus Group buying Junction 1 and The Outlet ; Royal Exchange site was sold to Castlebrook Developments ;
Belfast Telegraph building being sold to McAleer and Rushe who hope to do a joint venture with the Council using its City Centre Investment Fund . One of the most significant applications that we hope to submit in 2017 will be Evermore Energy ’ s proposal for a 480MW gas fired power station to be located off Airport Rd West .
We submitted an application for a 100acre cemetery outside Dundrod in June 2016 , which we hope to bring to conclusion in the coming months .
Finally ; Brexit !
The apparent downturn in investment post the vote in June has not materialised . I think that it is testimony to the strength of the economy that , within 3 months of the vote , investors were back in action again , not least in Northern Ireland where in the past 2 months alone we have been advising four G . B . based developers / investors on a range of major projects in NI . There is no doubt that as the Brexit discussion develops over the coming months / years , certain decisions could again have impacts on the economy , but provided the Government has a solid plan of action and provides certainty to investors then any such impacts should be minor .
Richard can be contacted at rbowman @ strategicplanning . uk . com ; Tel : 028 9042 5222