A planning application for an apartment block in the Sandy Row area of South Belfast has been delayed following a wave of local objections.
At the recent meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, elected members delayed for a site visit an application by Benmara Property Ltd, Ballyclare, for a 55 apartment five storey residential building with 43 private apartments, six intermediate and six social housing units, at 1-5 Gaffikin Street Belfast. The street runs parallel to Donegall Road, close to Sandy Row.
The application site measures 0.17 hectares and is located on lands bounded by Gaffikin St, Donegall Road, Blondin St and Oban St. There is an existing car accessory shop, tyre centre and boxing club all within one large building on site at present.
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The immediate area is mostly residential with a mix of single and two storey terraced dwellings and a six storey apartment development directly adjacent, at Whitehall Square. The proposed development includes car parking provision of 23 spaces.
Following neighbour notification and advertisement in the local press, a petition in protest of the proposed application has been set up with 28 signatures, and the council have so far received 118 letters of objection from local residents, including the Blackstaff Residents Association. No objections were raised by statutory consultees.
The petition and letters raise a host of concerns, including overshadowing and loss of private amenity, traffic and insufficient parking, the need for social housing over private, inappropriate scale and negative visual impact.
Concerns have also been raised about construction work and noise impact on the residential amenity, overburdening the existing sewerage system, safety concerns, and loss of safe access required for ambulances and care workers.
Residents have aired concerns that they might lose the local boxing club over the development, and have complained the developer was “reluctant to meet with local residents.”
Council officers however are recommending the development to elected members for approval. The council report states: “The proposal was amended from that initially submitted during the assessment of the application. The original submission was for a residential development of 55 apartments with no social or intermediate dwellings included.”
Referring to the objections, the report adds: “A number of these issues are not planning considerations and outside the remit of planning legislation and guidance. Namely parking obstructions during construction as well as access, loss of the existing boxing club, resentment within the community towards existing apartments, the number of existing apartments, proposed ideas for a “Traditional Family Residential Protection Areas” to be presented to DfC, incomes from private rentals, and quantum of existing dwellings which are in disrepair.”
It states: “The development proposes the demolition of an existing single storey building. The building is considered to be of no architectural or historic interest, is not listed or located in an Area of Townscape Character or Conservation Area. The proposed demolition is considered by officers as acceptable in principle.”
The report adds: “Whilst objectors raised concerns regarding the lack of parking and traffic increase, the scale of development and transport implications of the proposal were assessed by DFI Roads Service, the authoritative body on road safety and parking.
“Having considered the supporting information submitted as well as the plans, they have no objections to the development proposal on road safety and traffic progression grounds, subject to conditions and securing the proposed green travel measures. They also did not raise any concern regarding the accuracy of the Travel Plan submitted.”
The application will return to the Belfast City Council Planning Committee next month.
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