THE Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) has called on the Minister for the Environment, Arlene Foster MLA, to take urgent action to secure appropriate protection for the countryside. NIEL's members are very concerned by the potential implications of Justice Gillen's rulings on PPS 14. The judge concluded that the policy was introduced illegally but that if the policy had been introduced by the DOE he would have found the contents 'unobjectionable'.

Seamus óg Gallagher, NIEL Policy Officer, stated, "The policy must continue to be the key material consideration in the determination of planning applications for dwellings in the open countryside. We support the principles and direction of PPS 14 and feel that the 'presumption against development' with exemptions for proven need must be upheld. We accept that further discussion may be required to establish criteria for 'need to live in the countryside' and how these are to be applied."

Until PPS14 was introduced, three times more houses were being built each year in the open countryside in Northern Ireland than in the whole of England, Wales and Scotland combined. Such inappropriate development patterns contribute to:

· The loss and fragmentation of both agricultural land and wildlife habitat.

· The continued urbanisation of the countryside including ribbon development and the loss of traditional buildings is leading to a deterioration of landscape quality which threatens the future growth of the tourism industry.

· Poor local services: providing services over a dispersed area is more expensive than providing those services via community hubs.

· The proliferation of septic tanks which are often a significant source of pollution.

· The dispersed settlement patterns which lead to an over-reliance on the car, thus increasing our contribution to climate change.

An executive sub-committee, including ministers from several departments, is currently looking at the policy for single dwellings in the countryside. However, Justice Gillen's judgement will require immediate action if we are not to return to a planning free for all in the countryside.

"We welcome the Executive's and the Assembly's commitment to analysing the content of PPS 14 and we would we would gladly participate in this review. However, we must stress the importance of retaining strong measures to prevent inappropriate development in the countryside during the review," said Seamus óg Gallagher.

"In order to secure appropriate protection for the countryside we would urge the Minister for the Environment to issue a ministerial statement that adopts the draft PPS 14 pending the outcome of the review process."