The Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) has confirmed in a letter to the Northern Ireland Planning Bar Association (NIPBA) that it is “taking positive steps to explore the use of technology to enable hearings to proceed”.

The association had previously raised “mounting concern” that the planning system “is overall not responding effectively, collaboratively, and expeditiously to the challenges of COVID-19 and the related imperative to protect the local economy against severe and lasting damage”.

“In particular, it is evident that the planning systems in Great Britain are well ahead of Northern Ireland in mounting a co-ordinated and proactive response, with widespread use of digital working and an embracing of video conferencing for hearings,” the NIPBA said.

The Planning Inspectorate in England and Wales has announced it will hold its first digital pilot case within weeks.

A failure to allow hearings to proceed in Northern Ireland through similar video conference technology could engage appellants’ rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the NIPBA has warned.

The association “is willing to do its part to assist, now, and is happy to further co-ordinate input from other key stakeholders, with a view to advancing a working proposal to allow hearings to proceed by video conferencing in the near future”, it added.