AQW 14458/22-27


Mr Andrew McMurray
Alliance Party
South Down


Tabled Date: 04/09/2024
Answered On Date: 19/09/2024
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the amount of money that has been raised for (i) water; and (ii) wastewater infrastructure under agreements of Section 76, paragraph b) of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 in the last ten years.


Answer:
Section 76 of the Planning Act (NI) 2011 makes provision for any person who has an estate in land to enter in an agreement with the relevant authority for prescribed purposes. These agreements are referred to as ‘planning agreements’ or ‘section 76 agreements’. The ‘relevant authority’ may be either the Department for Infrastructure or a local council.
In April 2015 the majority of planning powers, including the power to enter into planning agreements, were devolved to the local councils. Additionally, the Department, as it exists now, was only formed in May 2016, the planning function having formerly been the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. Accordingly, the answer is provided in the context of the current Department and thus since May 2016.
Details of the agreements entered into, the contracted sums, and the purposes are set out in the table below.
Applications with s76 agreement
Number of Water / Wastewater works
Number of Infrastructure works
Contracted amounts
Contracted amounts for Water / Wastewater works
Lough Neagh sand dredging
 LA03/2017/0310/F
None
Mitigation measures for sand accumulation. Noise attenuation; fencing; and landscaping.
£25,000 annually (index linked)
£112,158 received to date
None
Casement Park Stadium
LA04/2017/0474/F
None
Installation of cameras
£1,000 annually (index linked)
£90,000 (index linked)
None
Linen Mill Complex, Upperlands Mixed Use Development
H/2009/0264/O
H/2009/0270/F
Reservoir improvement works; works to secure and stabilise buildings; and restoration works to buildings.
None
None
George Best Belfast City Airport
None
None
None
None
Reimbursement of the Department’s legal expenditure has not been included in the sums. The sums include both received sums and potential sums.