It’s official: The planning system in Northern Ireland is broken (in so many ways)

You would think that in a small place like Northern Ireland prioritising the environment would be a critical government concern, but seemingly it is the opposite.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) review of planning in Northern Irelandpublished this month is damning, to say the very least. The PAC was “alarmed” and “appalled” by the planning system. It is failing in its role to protect the environment, be an economic driver or deliver places that people want to live and work in.

The review vindicates the views and experiences of all the campaigners who have raised problems with the system over the years. The report notes that the planning system in Northern Ireland is not working, suffering from entrenched problems.

Prehen Woodland, Brandon Hamber

Like my father-in-law George McLaughlin, some have been trying to get these issues recognised for decades, particularly in relation to the Prehen Ancient Woodland. Finally, some acknowledgement.

Some specific findings include:

• the planning system lacks transparency and public trust; 
• the PAC was “alarmed by the volume of concerns around transparency” the PAC was “appalled by the performance statistics” there is a lack of accountability for poor performance;
• the PAC was “alarmed by the Department’s misunderstanding of accountability”;
• the planning system is one of the worst examples of silo-working within the public sector;
• the Department’s leadership of the planning system has been weak;
• members of the public feel excluded and often believe they have no choice but to launch legal proceedings; 
• the planning committees appear “to take an interest” in particular developments; 
• the PAC was “alarmed to hear that lobbying is happening, even though it shouldn’t be”. 

The PAC recommends that a Commission is established to undertake a fundamental review to ascertain the long-term and strategic changes that are needed to make the system fit for purpose.

Let’s hope this Commission is established, and proper planning can be put in place that protects the environment. The current dysfunctional bureaucracy with its unaccountable and untransparent governance that routinely supports destructive (lobbied-for) development must go.

Well done the 60-strong group, the Gathering, who have shone a light on this failed system.

Published by Brandon Hamber, Slugger O’Toole, 5 April 2022. Also on Medium.

Update on Prehen Woodland: Destruction Continues

Back in 2012 I wrote an article about the destruction of the environment making specific reference to an ancient woodland in Prehen in Northern Ireland. Three years later and the destruction of the woodland continues and developers continue to work away at destroying it. 

At the time I made the point that:

"...not caring about the Prehen woodland, or any other, is like saying the extinction of a specific species of insect is not important because there are lots of other insects in the world. But, like an extinct species, once this ancient woodland is gone, you cannot grow it back."

Posted by Tom McBride on the Campaign Facebook Page, 29 July 2015

It is sad to see no one really seems to take any serious notice. 

So recently I posted the latest update (27 July 2015) from the Prehen Historical and Environmental Society on Facebook calling for us all to take a little action by sending an email. 

So please do read it and if moved by it follow up. Ireland has so few ancient woodlands left, and we should not have another one decimated essentially for profit.

Visit the No to Housing Development in Prehen Woods Facebook page to add your voice or find out more.

Call for Inquiry into Prehen Ancient Woodland Planning

Below I post an open letter calling for the support to prevent destruction of Prehen Woods.

Dear friends

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT – WE NEED YOU TO ADD YOUR VOICE TODAY!

Prehen Historical and Environmental Society has asked the Stormont Committee for the Environment to conduct an inquiry into the transparency, equality and accountability of the Planning Service, due to concerns caused by our experience relating to the development at Prehen Ancient Woodland.

The Environment Committee is meeting on Thursday 28 June at Stormont, and our case is being considered at the meeting.

We are therefore asking for as many of you as possible to email Anna Lo, Chair of the Environment Committee, in support of our call for an inquiry.

I am attaching a sample letter which you can use or adapt. We would be delighted if you would sign your name to it, and email it immediately to anna.lo@niassembly.gov.uk and copy to alex.mcgarel@niassembly.gov.uk (Clerk of the Environment Committee) as the papers are being compiled for the Committee on Monday.

I am also attaching details of the Prehen case for your information, which exemplifies the failings in the planning process.

Many thanks and kind regards

George Mc Laughlin Prehen Historical and Environmental Society

Links

• Summary of events to date concerning the Prehen Woods, click here. 
• Sample letter to send to Anna Lo, click here. 
• Join the Facebook Campaign, click here.

The serious business of tree hugging

Back in 2001, infamous tough politician from Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, admitted that he liked hugging trees. At the time, he noted: “Hugging trees has a calming affect on me. I’m talking about enormous trees that will be there when we are all dead and gone.”

This week, I was amusingly accused of being a tree hugger after I circulated a petition to save a forest in Northern Ireland known as the Prehen woodland.

By global standards, this forest is minuscule. The remaining tract of forest in Prehen, just outside Derry, covers 18.5 acres, compared to the 1.7-billion acres of the Amazon forest basin.

But this small forest is also unique. It is an ancient woodland with trees dating back to the 1600s and is one of the few ancient woodlands left on the island of Ireland. One of the last colonies of indigenous red squirrels lives in the forest and it offers local people a green area on the edge of the city.

Nonetheless, the local government and planners still allow continued encroachment on the forest, giving developers licence to chop down ageless trees to build luxury homes. The developers then have the gall to advertise the new homes as located in a forest setting.

The savagery the officials have allowed on this tiny forest over the years is disgraceful, but is also part of a bigger global problem.

Prehen Ancient Woodland

Forests cover about 30% of the world’s land area. But deforestation continues at an alarming rate. Logging, mining, housing and the planting of crops for grazing, besides other practices, destroy 4 500 acres of forest worldwide every hour, according to the United Nations. It is estimated that 18-million acres of the world’s forests is lost each year.

Experts estimate that, within 40 years, the last remaining rainforests could be consumed. This will have a devastating effect on the global climate and the 1.6- billion people who rely on forest products for all or part of their livelihoods.

Yet those who fight to roll back this destruction, like veteran local Prehen campaigner George McLaughlin, are generally dismissed as troublemakers by the planning authorities while, globally, corporations and governments turn a blind eye for a quick buck or financial support for their next election campaign.

Given the gargantuan annihilation of trees around the planet, should I, or anyone for that matter, care about the Prehen woodland in Northern Ireland?

Of course, we should. We need to challenge the human delusions I have seen in relation to forest annihilation. When it comes to vast forests like the Amazon, we are tricked into thinking they are too big to be completely wiped out. When it comes to small forests like the Prehen woodland, we think they are too insignificant to matter.

However, not caring about the Prehen woodland, or any other, is like saying the extinction of a specific species of insect is not important because there are lots of other insects in the world. But, like an extinct species, once this ancient woodland is gone, you cannot grow it back.

Adams claims he likes hugging trees because he knows they will be there long after he is gone. Well, in this case, he might be wrong.

When will the authorities in Northern Ireland wake up to the reality staring them in the face? Or will they continue to sell their resources to the highest bidder for some short-term gain, just like many others worldwide?

Given the record of government and the planners in relation to the Prehen woodland and internationally, there is little prospect. But each day I hope, just as my financial adviser is prone to say, past performance is not always an indicator of future performance and, perhaps, someone with the power to stop the wanton destruction of forests like the Prehen woodland will stand up and have the courage to say: “No more.”

This article by Brandon Hamber was published on Polity and in the Engineering News on 19 March 2012 as part of the column "Look South". Copyright Brandon Hamber.