Northern Ireland Minister for the Environment Mark H Durkan had no legal power to approve a major new planning blueprint for greater Belfast, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mr Justice Treacy held that Mr Durkan acted unilaterally and unlawfully in authorising the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) without securing consent from Executive colleagues.
His verdict came in a challenge to the SDLP Minister's decision brought by former DUP enterprise minister Arlene Foster.
The planning framework, adopted in September 2014, has implications for securing the first John Lewis store in Northern Ireland. But the judge backed claims that because its significance stretched across departmental responsibilities, it needed approval from the Stormont Executive. A decision on what remedy to grant in the case will be taken at a later date.
Expansion restricted
Among the most contentious aspects of the blueprint is a retail zoning which restricts future expansion at the Sprucefield shopping centre to bulky goods only. That would stop a proposed John Lewis store being built there.
Ms Foster, now the First Minister of Northern Ireland, issued proceedings amid claims her colleague in the power sharing administration breached the ministerial code.