News
16th May 09
5/16/2009
Tom Elliott, Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, has expressed his dismay that instead of helping the construction industry during the current crisis the Environment Minister has focused on protecting the Planning Service from any cutbacks a
PLANNERS JOB SECURITY
Mr Elliott states “Recently I highlighted job losses across the construction industry from the building site, to the architects office, to the factory floor, and appealed for the Executive to support the survival of our core skill base to rebuild the industry in better times. However instead of support Sammy Wilson has chosen to increase planning fees by a massive 20%, delivering yet another blow to the construction industry, right at the point where many projects are born, how on earth does he think that sucking millions of pounds out of the sector will get the country building again?
“We all know that during the boom time extra staff were taken on across the whole industry, the Planning Service was no exception, adding many new planners across the country, and credit is due to those who kept the system running under an un-precedence number of applications, however those days have gone, and due to PPS21 and the like they are unlikely to return, so why do we need to maintain all those planners with a fraction of the work to do?
“Talking to architects, contractors, and others involved in the industry you can sense the anger and resentment they feel as they have been forced through the pain of laying-off valuable staff, many of whom are also friends and family, and then they hear that the planners are immune from these cuts with their jobs virtually guaranteed, and worst of all it is them and their clients who have to pay for it!
“As one architect stated to me ‘I dread to think what these surplus planners will come up with to pass their time, you will probably see them out measuring the spaces between trees on sites or creating some crazy new policy to create a bit more work, you can be pretty certain we wont see a 20% improvement in service.’
“As a result of an Assembly Question which I tabled with Minister of Environment, Sammy Wilson I have learnt that currently the planning service spends over £4.6 million on enforcements, and although they won’t give a breakdown of the figures, I believe most of this was spent on minor infringements in the countryside, rather than taking on the big developers abusing the system, I’m am afraid that we may see this increase with the surplus workforce eager to justify their retention.
So much for the DUP’s plans to reduce the cost of government administration and practical steps to help a beleaguered construction industry”
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