17. Section 20 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following subsection:

“(1A) The Minister or the Office of the Planning Regulator may, in relation to a local area plan, make such recommendations as the Minister or that Office, as the case may be, considers appropriate.”,

(b) in subsection (3), by—

(i) substituting the following clause for clause (II) of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c):

“(II) provide a summary of—

(A) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Minister, where the notice under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) was sent before the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator,

(B) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Office of the Planning Regulator, and

(C) the submissions and observations made by any other persons,

in relation to the draft local area plan in accordance with this section,”,

and

(ii) substituting the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (l):

“(ii) provide a summary of—

(I) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Minister, where the notice under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) was sent before the establishment of the Office of the Planning Regulator,

(II) the recommendations, submissions and observations made by the Office of the Planning Regulator, and

(III) the submissions and observations made by any other persons,

in relation to the draft local area plan in accordance with this section,”,

and

(c) by inserting the following subsection:

“(5) In this section ‘statutory obligations’ includes, in relation to a local authority, the obligation to ensure that the local area plan is consistent with—

(a) the objectives of the development plan,

(b) the national and regional development objectives specified in—

(i) the National Planning Framework, and

(ii) the regional spatial and economic strategy,

and

(c) specific planning policy requirements specified in guidelines under subsection (1) of section 28.”.