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Consultation

The development of both the Regional Development Strategy and the Regional Transportation Strategy involved extensive consultation exercises. Involvement of interested parties and the general public is critical to understanding the key issues. The preparation of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan involves a statutory consultation process that includes transport issues, as well as other broader planning issues such as housing, employment creation, greenbelt and the countryside and recreation and open space. A series of public consultation meetings took place across the six council areas during the period January to March 2002. These weeks gave the public time to put forward their views on the BMAP issues, including transport. The Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 Issues Paper was published in December 2001 to inform this consultation.

In addition to the BMAP consultation process, specific consultation mechanisms also formed an intrinsic part of the BMTP study. The aim of consultation was to ensure that the views of a wide range of stakeholders were taken into account in formulating the Plan, and through stakeholder participation in the Plan development process, the consultation exercise has sought to ensure that the final Plan has a high degree of support.

Consultation has been undertaken at each stage of the Plan development process. A number of different consultation mechanisms have been employed as follows:

  • The formulation of Reference Groups for consultation on Problems and Issues (local feedback is available by clicking on the links to the right);
  • The formulation of a Key Stakeholder Group with consultation meetings on four occasions during the Plan development process;
  • Conducting two rounds of Focus Groups to obtain the views of those groups that were not represented within the Reference Groups and the Key Stakeholder Group;
  • Holding a number of consultation meetings in conjunction with BMAP with members of each of the six District Councils in the BMA; and
  • Holding a Working Conference in February 2003 presenting a draft transport plan to delegates drawn from the Reference Groups, the Key Stakeholder Group and the District Councils.

Information