A Northern Ireland Local Development Plan is prepared by the relevant council and is built through two development-plan documents: the Plan Strategy and the Local Policies Plan.

This two-document structure is central to understanding the current system.

The Plan Strategy establishes the strategic framework.

It sets the council's vision, objectives, growth strategy and strategic planning policies. The Local Policies Plan follows with more detailed local policies, zonings, proposals and designations needed to implement that strategy.

The transition between old and new plans requires particular care.

Different councils are at different stages. A council may have an adopted Plan Strategy while work on its Local Policies Plan continues, meaning older development-plan provisions and retained regional policies can remain relevant. Never assume the newest document has automatically displaced every earlier policy.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Department for Infrastructure - Local Development Plans: Departmental Directions - Plan Strategies

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy

Last checked: 26 September 2026

The Plan Strategy is the strategic first development-plan document in the Northern Ireland LDP process.

It establishes how the council intends to manage growth and development across its district and provides the strategic policy framework for later local detail.

It is prepared through a statutory process rather than simply adopted as a council policy paper.

Preparation includes evidence and consultation, followed by independent examination against the applicable soundness tests. The Planning Appeals Commission can undertake that examination and report to the Department for Infrastructure.

An adopted Plan Strategy can materially change the policy framework for applications.

However, researchers must still check the transitional position, including the status of older plans, retained Planning Policy Statements and the unfinished Local Policies Plan. The correct policy framework may therefore involve more than one generation of planning documents.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Department for Infrastructure - Local Development Plans: Departmental Directions - Plan Strategies

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy

Last checked: 26 September 2026

The Local Policies Plan is the second development-plan document and translates the Plan Strategy into detailed local planning provisions.

It can contain site-specific proposals, zonings, designations and local policies required to deliver the strategic framework.

Its timing is important.

A council can have an adopted Plan Strategy before the Local Policies Plan has completed preparation. During that period, researchers must establish which earlier site-specific plan provisions remain operative or relevant.

For an objection, do not cite the Plan Strategy alone if the issue is site-specific.

Check the current proposals or policy maps, transitional development-plan material and retained policy position. Conversely, do not rely on an old zoning without checking whether adoption of the Plan Strategy or another statutory step has altered its status.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Department for Infrastructure - Local Development Plans: Departmental Directions - Plan Strategies

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy

Last checked: 26 September 2026

The Preferred Options Paper is an early public stage in preparing a Local Development Plan.

It presents the council's preferred approaches to significant planning issues and allows communities, infrastructure bodies, developers and other stakeholders to respond before the formal development-plan documents are finalised.

It is not an adopted plan.

Its options and preferences can change as evidence, consultation and plan preparation continue. It should therefore not be quoted in a planning objection as though it already carries the status of an adopted Plan Strategy or Local Policies Plan.

Its strategic value is early influence.

If communities disagree with assumptions about growth, infrastructure, settlement development, environmental capacity or land-use options, the Preferred Options stage provides an opportunity to put evidence into the plan-making process before those choices become more fixed.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Last checked: 26 September 2026

Soundness is the framework used at independent examination to test whether the development-plan document is fit to proceed.

Departmental practice guidance groups the soundness tests around procedural matters, consistency and coherence, and effectiveness.

The examination is therefore evidence-led.

It is not enough for a participant to say that a different policy would be preferable. A representation should explain why the submitted approach fails an applicable soundness test, for example because of a procedural deficiency, inconsistency with the wider policy framework or an inadequate evidential basis.

The Planning Appeals Commission can conduct the independent examination and report to the Department.

The Department then considers the examination report within the statutory process before the council adopts the development-plan document, subject to any direction or required action.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Department for Infrastructure - Local Development Plans: Departmental Directions - Plan Strategies

Last checked: 26 September 2026

Northern Ireland's move to council Local Development Plans is transitional rather than instantaneous.

Councils have progressed through the new system at different speeds, and Department for Infrastructure guidance continues to identify retained regional Planning Policy Statements under transitional arrangements.

This can make the applicable policy framework less obvious than the title 'new LDP' suggests.

Adoption of a Plan Strategy does not necessarily mean that every older site-specific provision has disappeared, particularly where the Local Policies Plan is still being prepared.

For ObjectNow research, establish the complete policy chain.

Check the adopted Plan Strategy, progress of the Local Policies Plan, the status of the previous development plan and the Department's current retained-policy position. State clearly which document is being relied upon and why it remains applicable.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy

Department for Infrastructure - Local Development Plans: Departmental Directions - Plan Strategies

Department for Infrastructure - Development Plan Practice Notes

Last checked: 26 September 2026

Yes. The Department states that SPPS Edition 2 is material to decisions on individual planning applications and appeals, as well as being relevant to the preparation of Local Development Plans.

It should be read alongside the applicable development plan and any retained policy that continues to have effect for the area or subject.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Strategic Planning Policy Statement, Edition 2 https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/strategic-planning-policy-statement-edition-2

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/retained-planning-policy

Last checked: 25 September 2026

Some Planning Policy Statements remain retained under transitional arrangements. The Department states that retained policies will be cancelled as councils complete the transition to new Plan Strategies for their whole areas.

This means an objection should not assume that every older PPS has either disappeared or still applies everywhere. Check the current policy position for the relevant council and topic.

Sources and further information

Department for Infrastructure - Retained Planning Policy https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/retained-planning-policy

Last checked: 25 September 2026

The Strategic Planning Policy Statement sets regional planning policy for Northern Ireland. Edition 2 was published on 11 December 2025. It provides core planning principles for the two-tier system and is material to decisions on individual planning applications and appeals.

Local Development Plans and, during transitional arrangements, retained planning policy can also be relevant. The applicable policy position should be checked for the council area and proposal.

Sources and further information
Department for Infrastructure NI: Strategic Planning Policy Statement Edition 2Department for Infrastructure NI: Department's determination of applicationsDepartment for Infrastructure NI: New Planning PortalLast checked: 25 September 2026

Some are. DfI maintains retained planning policy under transitional arrangements. Those retained policies are cancelled as the relevant replacement arrangements take effect, including through adopted Local Development Plan strategies.

Because the position differs between council areas and topics, do not assume that every old PPS still applies everywhere. Check DfI’s current retained-policy list and the adopted Local Development Plan for the area.

Sources and further information
Department for Infrastructure NI: Strategic Planning Policy Statement Edition 2Department for Infrastructure NI: Department's determination of applicationsDepartment for Infrastructure NI: New Planning PortalLast checked: 25 September 2026