A new apartment block has been approved close to the Strand Cinema in East Belfast.
At Belfast City Council ’s recent meeting of its Planning Committee, elected representatives gave the green light for a new six apartment building, each with one bedroom, with associated site amenity space.
The application site is a vacant parcel of land at the corner of Dundela Avenue and Dundela Crescent, close to Holywood Road and the Strand Cinema. The site is bound to the north by Dundela Park Football Ground and vacant land to the east. The surrounding area is defined primarily by residential development, with a mix of semi detached dwellings and apartments characterising the area.
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The proposed layout indicates private patios to the front and side of the two ground floor apartments and two communal shared gardens to the eastern and western extremities of the site. There is no dedicated car parking provision proposed.
The plan, by Mr Richard Acheson, of Circular Road, Belfast, led to the council receiving three letters of objection stating concerns about overdevelopment of the site, road and pedestrian safety, and parking concerns.
NI Water were consulted and objected to the proposal stating the sewer network was “at capacity.” None of the other statutory bodies had yet made any objection.
Council officers recommended the plan to elected representatives. The council report states: “The site is located within the development limit of Belfast and is located on un-zoned white land. The principle of development is considered acceptable.
“Whilst the density of the proposed development would be high and the apartments located on a tight and confined site, on balance, the proposal would be in keeping with the character and appearance of the area, including the similar apartments with extant permission on the adjacent land to the east.
“The design of the apartments is considered acceptable. Satisfactory amenity space would be provided. Whilst the proposal would not provide any in-curtilage parking, a parking survey has been provided which the Department for Infrastructure Roads division finds acceptable. DfI Roads offers no objection to the proposal.
“Having regard to the development plan, relevant policy context and other material considerations including the representations, the proposed development is, on balance, considered acceptable.”
The report adds: “Due to the topography of the site, the fencing that partially encloses the site and its visual appearance, it is considered that the site has no visual amenity value. The site is overgrown and unkept and is considered visually detrimental to the surrounding residential area.”
It states: “The proposed materials include brick and render finishes which replicate materials already in use in the area and are acceptable. The building is similar to the bulk, scale and massing of adjacent approved apartment blocks. This will ensure a continuance of design throughout the whole development and will ensure the apartment block will be viewed as part of the overall development within the wider site.”
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