AQW 13397/22-27

Mr Stewart Dickson
Alliance Party
East Antrim

Tabled Date: 14/06/2024
Answered On Date: 11/07/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the guidance provided to local council planning decision-makers to ensure that battery installations include comprehensive decommissioning plans, covering end-of-life management and environmentally sound disposal of batteries.

Answer:

Guidance on a range of topics has been provided by my Department through Development Management Practice Notes. These are designed to guide planning officers and others engaged in the planning system through development management processes and deal primarily with procedures as well as good practice.

From April 2019 my department has engaged with local planning authorities (LPAs) as part of its Environmental Governance Work Programme, intended to enhance competence and capacity on environmental compliance in the planning system, particularly in relation to environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The programme included the development and delivery of two levels of bespoke EIA training to over 200 planning staff, the publication of a number of EIA Development Management Practice Notes and the establishment of an Environmental Officers Forum, to facilitate discussions on key and emerging EIA issues.