Agenda item

(Councillors Brooks, Garrett and McMullan left the meeting at this point)

            The Case officer presented the Committee with the principal aspects of the application for 79 apartments, retail space, a gym and 67 car parking spaces. He outlined the key issues which had been considered in the assessment of the application which included the acceptability of housing at the location, scale, massing and design, traffic and parking, impact on the Lisburn Road Area of Townscape Character, flooding, drainage and noise. 

            He explained that the site was located on a main arterial route from the City Centre and was poorly defined in terms of land use and built form, with a large area of hard standing and commercial/industrial units set back from the road.  He advised the Committee that the mix of retail, leisure and residential uses would add to the diversity of the area and create a quality built form on a site which was, at present, poorly defined architecturally.

            The Members were advised that Environmental Health, DAERA, HED, Building Control, NI Water and NI Transport Holding Company had been consulted and had no objection to the proposals.  The Case officer added that DFI Roads had requested further information and that a response from Rivers Agency was outstanding.

            He reported that no third party objections had been received.

            He drew the Committee’s attention to the Late Items pack, where NI Transport Holding Company had raised a number of issues in their consultation response, including a request for a buffer zone between the built form and their land, and a demolition plan and schedule to including exclusion zones and protection methods, if required.  He outlined to the Members that assurances had been sought from the applicant that there would be sufficient space to allow the construction and maintenance of the building without encroaching onto NITC land.  He added that, in the event of an approval, a condition would be attached requiring a demolition plan to be agreed prior to commencement of site clearance.

            The Members were advised that, having regard to the extant development plan, the draft development plan, relevant planning policies and approvals in the area, economic benefits and other material considerations, the proposed scheme was considered, on balance, to be acceptable.

The Chairperson welcomed Mr. E. Loughrey, representing the agent, to the meeting.  He advised the Committee that:

·        the scheme represented a significant investment of over £12million which would contribute to the housing and retail demands in the area;

·        Pre-Application community consultation had taken place with the local community and public representatives;

·        all technical reports had been submitted; 

·        design amendments had been made in response to Planners’ concerns; and

·        while some matters were still in discussion with statutory consultees, they were not significant and were thought to be resolved quickly.

            In response to a Member’s question regarding the parking provision within the site, Mr. Loughrey advised the Committee that the car parking spaces would be available for residents only.

            In respect of a Member’s query regarding the trees in the site, Mr. Loughrey advised the Committee that NI Railways had confirmed that it would rather that the trees along the railway line were removed.  He added that the trees within the back corner of the site were not felt to provide any contribution to the amenity of the site.

            The Committee granted approval to the application, subject to the imposing of the conditions set out within the Case officer’s report; to resolve DFI Roads and Rivers Agency issues with regards to transportation and drainage respectively; to resolve design issues relating to the depth of reveals and articulation of the building; and delegated power to the Director of Planning and Building Control for the final wording of the conditions.

(Councillors Brooks, Garrett and McMullan returned to the meeting at this point)

            (Councillor Murphy left the room at this point)