The International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD) has been commissioned by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) to investigate the evolution of cross-border co-operation and potential divergence in spatial planning policy on the island of Ireland since Brexit.
The planning systems and policy landscape in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have undergone major reforms over the past decade. Northern Ireland shifted planning powers to local councils and introduced Local Development Plans following the revision of the Regional Development Strategy 2035 in 2012 and the Review of Public Administration in 2014.
Since then, the planning landscape in the Republic of Ireland has undergone significant reform of local government and a strengthening of regional government.
During this period of change, both governments jointly published the Framework for Co-operation: Spatial Strategies of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2013, setting out a framework for enhanced collaboration in spatial planning across all tiers of the public service.
Led by Caroline Creamer (ICLRD Director), based at Maynooth University, Dr Gavan Rafferty MRTPI and Dr Linda McElduff, both from Ulster University, the study assesses the degree of alignment and/or divergence between the current spatial strategies of the island of Ireland and examines the impact the Framework for Co-operation has had on strategic spatial planning, policy coordination and cross-border working.
As part of their methodology, the team are engaging with those not only responsible for delivery of spatial planning policy today, but with those involved in the design and implementation of the current spatial planning strategies and the Framework for Co-operation.
Initial findings will be presented at the RTPI NI Annual Conference and at the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference, both being held in September in Belfast. A full report will follow in November.
Caroline Creamer, ICLRD Director, said, “Building on the extensive ICLRD research to date, we are excited to be working with the RTPI to explore this important topic. It is timely to examine the changing policy landscape and capture stakeholder perspectives on the impact and currency not only of the respective spatial strategies in informing the strategic direction of planning practice but also of the Framework for Co-operation in enhancing and enabling cross-border collaboration to the benefit of all communities and the island of Ireland as a whole.”
