{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/planning-act-northern-ireland-2011/section-25",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/planning-act-northern-ireland-2011/section-25.json",
  "legislation": "nia/2011/25",
  "legislation_title": "Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/planning-act-northern-ireland-2011",
  "path": "section/25",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "25",
  "heading": "Hierarchy of developments",
  "text": "(1) For the purposes of this Act, a development belongs to one of the following categories—\n(a) the first, to be known as “major developments”; and\n(b) the second, to be known as “local developments”.\n(2) The Department must by regulations describe classes of development and assign each class to one of the categories mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1).\n(3) But the Department may, as respects a particular local development, direct that the development is to be dealt with as if (instead of being a local development) it were a major development.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "Pt. 3 applied with modification(s) (1.4.2015) by The Planning General Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015/39), regs. 1(1), 2 (with regs. 3-10)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 25 in operation at 1.2.2015 for specified purposes by S.R. 2015/25, art. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I2",
      "text": "S. 25 in operation at 1.4.2015 in so far as not already in operation by S.R. 2015/25, art. 3"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/25/section/25",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:20:42.089798+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}