Agenda item

(The Chairperson, having declared an interest in the item, left the meeting while

the item was under consideration.)

(Deputy Chairperson, Councillor Maskey in the Chair.)

            The Senior Planning Officer provided the Committee with an overview of the site location, that included a layout of the proposed development and elevation images, in order to convey the residential context and indicative public realm of the application.

            He presented a 3D context of the Gasworks Masterplan which illustrated how the overall site would look like post-development.  He stated that there was a balance to the proposed development and that, any loss of industrial land would be outweighed by wider community benefits on a generous level of business, commercial and community uses which would provide a sustainable job creation package for a site largely vacant of any recent industrial or employment uses, as it had been vacant for some time. 

            He informed the Members that, officers had recommended that the Committee would approve the application, subject to conditions and developer contributions having been sought through a legal agreement between the Council, as the landowner, and the developer or developers, when the site was leased or disposed of. 

            The Senior Planning Officer pointed out to the Committee that there were 268 third party representations received that were in support of the social housing and mixed-use elements of the proposal, and that, some had raised concerns regarding the delivery and operation of some of the elements of the proposals.  He outlined the reasons for recommending approval of the application, which included:

·      A mixed-use scheme that provided high quality city centre social housing alongside appropriate city centre uses;

·      Creation of vibrant, city centre space;

·      Regeneration;

·      Enhancement of the existing civic spaces and creation of strong mixed-use frontages; and

·      Provision of connections between commercial, business, offices uses and existing and proposed residential areas.

            The Chairperson welcomed Mr. A. Bullock, AECOM, Ms. D. Quinn, Radius Housing, Mr. A. Crozier, TODD Architects and Mr. F. Hargey, Market Development Association, to the meeting.

            Mr. Hargey stated that the sites which were under consideration were among the first developed for housing in the South Inner City and that the development was the culmination of two decades of campaigning by Market residents, having collected petitions, lobbied political representatives, participated in the consultation process and, when necessary, protested to secure the homes.

            He pointed out that, the community had over 110 homeless families on the waiting list annually, and that, the 94 new homes would have a considerable impact.  He referred to the links between homelessness, poor mental health and poor educational attainment and that, the development would contribute to the reduction of wider social deprivations within the community.

            He reported that the elements of the masterplan which designated adjoining lands for community infrastructure, social economy and cooperative development had been welcomed by the local residents and stated that successful communities were built on more than houses, and that those spaces would help overcome the structural deficiencies of the Market community’s redevelopment in the 1970’s, when it’s mixed economic base had been divested.

            He highlighted that local residents remained concerned regarding the negative attitude of the prospective developer, Inislyn Ltd., toward the Market community and had noted that Planners had refused to cognisance Inislyn’s demands that the community be deprived of housing and isolated through social interfaces.

            He concluded by stating that the residents were welcoming of the Radius proposal to build 94 much needed new homes, and those social components of the wider masterplan which would help build a sustainable community, and that, while the community struggled for decades to secure a place at the table, he believed that this will now be looked on as a model for socially inclusive development in the city and would urge Councillors to vote in favour of the application.

            Mr. Bullock added that the importance of the project should not be understated as the proposal would regenerate a currently vacant and underutilised brownfield site located in the heart of the city.  He stated that the proposed development had been designed to provide a balance of high-quality social housing alongside employment and community uses.

            He reported that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the neighbouring Market Development Association had indicated support for the mixed-use scheme and that the proposal was the best possible response a very constrained urban site.  He outlined the benefits of the development on the local area and wider city.

            The Committee approved the application and granted delegated authority to the Director of Planning and Building Control to finalise the wording of the conditions and the Section 76 Planning Agreement resolve any outstanding issues and notify the Department for Infrastructure, in accordance with the Planning (Notification of Applications) Direction 2017.