Political lobbying on the rise amid housing crisis…

It is inconceivable to imagine a modern planning system without some level of political lobbying taking place, but we are currently seeing an exponential rise in this activity due to the housing and wastewater crisis.

There is a host of legislation, codes of conduct and guidance which govern the act of lobbying in our planning system. These protections are in place to reduce the risk of individuals having undue influence during the planning process.

Indeed, Section 53 of the Local Government Act 2014 sets out a mandatory Code of Conduct for all councillors where sometimes officials and politicians need to declare an interest in a particular planning application. Councillors and MLA’s regularly speak at planning committees, either for or against a particular application.

However, developers, businesses and housebuilders have become increasingly frustrated with the delays in the planning system. This may be due to the delay in the processing of technical approvals or related to the crisis at NI Water, where chronic underfunding prevents many projects from being connected to the public drainage system.

I am not talking about a ‘Lobbygate’ type scandal that occurred over twenty years ago in England as it involved allegations of improper lobbying and exerting undue influence through various methods, including financial inducements. And important to say that no one is saying that this is happening here.

I am, instead, referring to the increase in appropriate and legal lobbying, undertaken in accordance with all the current legislation and guidance. This is increasing due to the perception that the planning system is failing to meet demand and caused by Stormont’s unwillingness to resolve multiple challenges, like the Lough Neagh pollution crisis, planning reform issues and inadequate funding of our archaic drainage infrastructure.

Ask any planning consultant or politician if lobbying activity for planning and construction projects has been more frequent over the last couple of years, and they will report a notable increase.

There is also statistical evidence that could explain why lobbying is on the increase. For example, over the last year there has been a decrease in the number of local planning applications being received and approved. Processing time also exceeds the set targets. There has also been a decrease in the number of planning appeals being determined as the Planning Appeals Commission has faced a significant backlog of cases.

This highlights the growing pressure on an underfunded planning system.

If the Assembly isn’t going to take these tough decisions, then there is a risk that planning decisions and priorities could increasingly be influenced by this lobbying activity. And if lobbying becomes the norm, rather than the exception, then it could distort the planning process and make it less transparent.

However, some politicians won’t be too upset about their increased workload as this helps justify their call for more public funding and staff for their constituency offices. Alas, the cost of running and delivering government in Northern Ireland never seems to be affected by economic recession, austerity or budgetary constraints. We could find ourselves in a vicious circle where political lobbying is driving the bureaucratic machine.

In other words, could we see a type of pragmatic Realpolitik, where businesses include lobbying as a standard part of the planning process. This could result in a reduction in transparency as lobbying data is not part of the quarterly planning statistics published by the Department for Infrastructure.

And finally, if political lobbying gets out of control, could the integrity of the planning system be at stake, and could this lead to more judicial reviews and even more planning appeals being overturned?

It is a fact that legitimate lobbying will always exist, but there also needs to be fairness in the planning system. Applicants need to have confidence that their application and project are going to be treated the same as all the others.

This is a debate that we need to have.