Article 8 Power of Department to enter into agreements or covenants restricting use of land

Where any owner of land in any area, which in the opinion of the Department is one of natural beauty or amenity, is willing to agree with the Department that the land or any part thereof shall, so far as his interest in the land enables him to bind it, be made subject (either permanently or for a specified period) to conditions restricting the use or development thereof in any manner, the Department may if it thinks fit (either for consideration or otherwise) enter into an agreement with him or accept a covenant from him to that effect.

Where an owner entering into an agreement or covenant under paragraph (1) has power to make that agreement or covenant binding upon his successors in title, and the agreement or covenant is expressed to be so binding, the Department shall have power to enforce that agreement or covenant against such successors in the like manner and to the like extent as if the Department were possessed of or entitled to or interested in adjacent land and as if the agreement or covenant had been expressed to be entered into for the benefit of the adjacent land.

The Department may waive (either permanently or temporarily) any condition imposed by an agreement or covenant made under paragraph (1) which is inconsistent with any provision of a F1local development plan or development order under the F2Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.