Council official says: “There are no community benefits that would outweigh the loss of the open space”
The DUP and Sinn Féin have pushed through an application for three detached houses close to the Crumlin Road area of North Belfast, despite planning officials advising that the plan should be refused and a host of local objections.
Belfast City Council planning officers recommended that elected representatives not approve an application by Sentry Properties Limited, of Ballyclare, for outline permission to build three new detached dwellings of up to three storeys, on land between 22 Squires View and 57 and 59 Squires Hill Road, Belfast.
The site is located on top of a steep gradient which falls by approximately 10 metres from east to west from Squires Hill Road towards the Crumlin Road, in an area previously zoned for housing.
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The surrounding area is predominantly two storey, semi-detached residential properties. There are two detached properties located directly to the north of the site.
Belfast Council received 15 letters of objection and one “non-committal representation.” Objectors raised concerns about loss of privacy, overlooking into nearby residences, and the impact on views from nearby residences.
Objectors said green belt land should be protected, adding that the site is a wildlife habitat with bats and badgers, and objected to the clearing of trees and shrubs on site.
Some argued there would be significant damage to existing properties as a result of the extensive piling required for the development. Others said entrance and egress to the proposed properties would cause a danger to pedestrians using the footpath.
Objectors said the presence of the existing “green break” should be retained for visual amenity, said that there was a lack of need for an additional three houses at this location, and added the development would devalue surrounding properties.
At the August meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, a council officer told elected representatives: “In terms of the principle of the development, of it being in open space, officers have concerns it would be contrary to policy.”
She said: “There are no community benefits that would outweigh the loss of the open space. There are also concerns about the quality of the development that would be delivered in terms of those levels, and the open space, as well as the dominance of the proposal.”
She said: “The proposal would result in the loss of open space, contrary to policy. It is not considered in conformity with the character of the area, which would conflict with the adjacent uses, (and would) appear overly dominant, contrary to policy.
“The proposal would not be of sufficient design quality due to the inappropriate engineering operations that would be required. The ground modelling works, and associated structures would encroach beyond the established building line, contrary to policy.” She recommended the application be refused.
An agent for the applicant told the committee: “The site is not zoned as open space and does not function as open space. When the Squire’s View housing development was approved in 2000, the site and the adjoining land to the northeast were shown on the landscape plan as an undeveloped area.
“Two houses were subsequently approved and built on the adjoining land, and significantly, the department accepted that this land was not open space. An application to build four houses on the site was made in 2020, and the council’s planning service accepted that the site is not open space.
“The Planning Service now claims that the site is open space, despite the fact there has been no material change in circumstances since the previous decisions.”
He added: “The site is a vacant sloping plot of land, and has been referred to in representations by neighbours as waste land. There is no obligation on the applicant to deliver the site as an area of open space.
“There have been complaints from residents that young people have been drinking on the site, and it attracts antisocial behaviour. Leaving it unmanaged and undeveloped is likely to lead to further antisocial behaviour issues.”
DUP Alderman Dean McCullough said: “(This area) was never seen as open space, it was always viewed as waste ground by people who lived and worked there. Historically, if you go back, the department was very clear, they were going to build houses.”
He added: “There is a very clear application in front of us that would actually combat some of the antisocial behaviour that we have to deal with – people lighting fires, people drinking, people taking drugs and selling drugs, and people creating a general nuisance in that area, and to the neighbouring community.”
He proposed the committee dismiss the official’s recommendation, and approve the application.
A vote on the DUP proposal to approve the application saw 13 votes in favour, from the DUP, Sinn Féin and the UUP, to five votes against, from the Alliance Party. The committee gave council planning officers delegated authority to “resolve the reasons for approval.”
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