Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Call for Sites
- Residential uses (houses or apartments, guest houses, care homes, student accommodation and Traveller sites)
- Industrial development (factories, storage, distribution and logistics)
- Business uses (offices, call centres or research and development)
- Retail (shopping, financial and professional services)
- Community and cultural uses (medical/health services, creches/nurseries, community centres, education facilities, museums, libraries, cemeteries, etc.)
- Leisure and entertainment facilities (bingo halls, cinemas, concert/dance halls and theatres)
- Tourism facilities and attractions
- Waste management facilities (recovery, recycling, waste processing, etc.)
- Renewable energy generation or energy storage
- Mixed-use (comprising a number of land-uses, such as residential, retail, office, and leisure)
- Landowner/agent contact details;
- The proposed use you want the site to be considered for (i.e. housing, employment, retail, etc.); and
- Location map with the site boundary outlined and clearly marked with landowner/agent contact details in case of separation.
1. What is the Call for Sites?
The ‘Call for Sites’ is an early opportunity for individuals, landowners and developers to suggest sites within the Council area for development over the next 15 years. The site suggestions will be used to inform the preparation of the Local Policies Plan (LPP), which will form part of the Belfast Local Development Plan 2035 (LDP).
The ‘Call for Sites’ submissions can include sites that you think might be suitable for a wide range of uses, such as:
You don’t need to own the land in question; we welcome suggestions from residents and community groups too.
The call of sites exercise will not determine whether a site should be allocated for development. Rather, it will help identify a pool of sites which will then be subject to further consideration through a range of technical work. It will help to inform future decision on allocations in the new LPP.
2. How do I respond and how much evidence is needed?
If you want a site(s) in Belfast to be considered for development, we want to hear from you. Please visit ‘Your Say’ on the Belfast City Council website where you will find a link to the ‘Call for Sites’ section. Include ‘Your Say’ link. Here you will find an interactive map, where you can draw out the boundary of the piece of land you wish to suggest and make any comments about potential uses.
Sites do not need to be in your ownership and could be suitable for a range of uses (such as residential, industrial development, business uses, retail, community and cultural uses, leisure and entertainment, tourism, waste management, renewable energy generation or energy storage). You should complete separate submissions for each site you put forward, unless you are suggesting a ‘mixed use’ proposal (for example, retail on ground floor, and housing located on the floor(s) above). All submissions must include a map showing the site’s location and boundaries.
Additional supporting documents are not needed, but further information may be requested as the selection process continues. We will contact you if this is necessary.
3. What information do I need to provide?
At this stage of the process, we do not require detailed information about site(s) suggested. However, we do need a minimum level of detail to properly process and assess sites and it is helpful if you can provide as much information as possible. The online submission platform ‘Your Say’ includes a comprehensive range of site assessment questions. Please complete these as best you can. As a minimum we do require the following:
4. Are there any size thresholds?
There is no formal limit on the size or site of site that you can suggest. Sites can be greenfield (land which has not previously been built on) or brownfield (land that has previously been developed). For this ‘Call for Sites’ exercise, however, we are interested in sites that are most able to meet the strategic goals of the LDP. For housing sites they should be capable of accommodating 5 or more housing units or be greater than 0.1 hectare. All other sites should be a minimum of 0.25 ha and capable of supporting 500sqm or more of floorspace.
5. Who can submit a site?
Anyone can submit a site for consideration, provided that contact details are included. We cannot accept anonymous proposals, as we may need to contact you for further information. However, we will still require ownership details in order to confirm the genuine availability of the site for the proposed use(s).
In accordance with data protection laws, you should be aware that the Council will use information collected as part of the ‘Call for Sites’ exercise to inform spatial policy decisions within the LPP and related evidence base. By submitting your response, you are accepting that the Council will publish it and the information within it. However, published responses will not contain any personal details of individuals. For more information see our Privacy Notice.
6. What is the relationship between the Call for Sites process and the LDP?
The LDP comprises of two development plan documents. The first is the Plan Strategy (PS), which the Council adopted on 2 May 2023. This is the strategic policy framework for the plan area as a whole across a range of topics. It sets out the vision for Belfast as well as the objectives and strategic policies required to deliver that vision.
The LPP is the second part of the two-stage LDP process. The purpose of the LPP is to set out a Council’s local policies and site-specific proposals in relation to the development and use of land in its District. The LPP must be consistent with a PS and should take account of the ‘Regional Development Strategy 2035’ (RDS) and other policy issued by the Department such as ‘A Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland’ (SPPS).
The LPP must contain the local policies, including site specific proposals, designations and land use zonings required to deliver the Vision, Objectives and Policies set out in the PS. This is where the ‘Call for Sites’ process can feed into the LPP.
If you submit a site through the ‘Call for Sites’ and assessed by the Council to be suitable, available and achievable (see Appendix B for a summary of the assessment process) for a particular use, such as housing, an industrial or commercial use, the land may then be proposed for such a use (i.e. residential or employment) within the LPP (see Appendix A). However, this would only be the case after a site has been subject to detailed technical assessments and is determined to be appropriate for the use.
7. If sites are identified in the ‘Call for Sites’ exercise and are assessed by the Council, does it mean that they will be allocated for development in the Local Policies Plan?
No. The ‘Call for Sites’ and the technical assessment of sites put forward is an important evidence source to inform the plan-making process, but does not in itself determine whether a site should be allocated for development. This is because not all sites considered in the assessment will be suitable or acceptable for development.
Allocation of land for development will depend upon the extent of policy and practical constraints identified in the assessment and the choices made by the Council following public consultation on the options available. The technical assessment provides information on the range of sites which are available to meet the LDP objectives, but it is for the LPP itself to determine which of those sites are the most suitable to meet the requirements (see Appendices A and B for a summary of the assessment processes).
The approach taken ensures that all land is assessed by the Council as part of LDP preparation to identify which sites are the most suitable and deliverable for a particular use.
8. If a specific site is already known to the Council, do I still need to put it forward through the call for sites process? i.e. if the site is on the Housing Monitor, Employment Land Monitor or Urban Capacity Study is there a need to submit it again?
Yes. We want to ensure that we have the most up-to-date information on sites within the Council area, including ownership details and the potential proposed use. A site submission will ensure the Council can update any existing record of the site including what the owner intends to do with the site in future and so can provide valuable additional information, even if we are already aware of the site and its development potential.
9. What happens next?
The ‘Call for Sites’ exercise will not determine whether the LPP should identify a site for development. It is only the start of the process.
Following the ‘Call for Sites’ process, the Council will publish all submissions we have received on our website. By submitting your response, you are accepting that the Council will publish it and the information within it. However, published responses will not contain any personal details of individuals. For more information see the Privacy Notice.
| Please note that the publication of site information at this stage does not indicate that it will be allocated for any particular use or that it will successfully obtain planning permission for development. |
In preparing the LPP, the sites will go through several technical assessments. For example, the assessment of sites suggested for a housing or employment uses will form part of an updated Urban Capacity Study (UCS), which will include an evaluation of whether a site is suitable, available and achievable (see Appendix B). The sites which are considered most appropriate and subsequently proposed for designation or zonings within the LPP will then be subject to further public consultation and an Independent Examination in Public.
A Sustainability Appraisal (SA) will be conducted alongside the ‘Call for Sites’ process, technical assessments and drafting of the LPP to consider and communicate the sustainability issues and effects of emerging plans, policies and potential designations or zonings. The SA will help to inform the plan making process by helping to refine the contents of plans/policies, so that they maximise the benefits of sustainable development and avoid, or at least minimise the potential for adverse effects.
10. What is the deadline for call for sites?
All submissions must be received by 5pm on Friday 01 March 2024.
11. How do I keep in touch with the progress of this project?
Details of the project are available from the Council’s website:
https://yoursay.belfastcity.gov.uk/hub-page/local-development-plan
Details of the Local Plan preparation process are available from the Council’s website:
If you are unable to find the answers to your questions on these pages, please do not hesitate to contact the Local Development Plan Team by email:
localdevelopmentplan@belfastcity.gov.uk
or by calling:
028 9050 0510.
