More housing for Antrim town centre?

MORE housing could be set for Antrim town centre after plans for the replacement of a vacant building on Lough Road with six new homes were re-advertised.

Craig Coulter is the applicant for the proposal, which involves the demolition of an existing vacant building, the removal of a boundary wall fronting onto Dublin Road, and construction of two, two storey semi-detached dwellings and four apartments, communal parking/garden areas and new vehicular access onto the Dublin Road.

The agent is Arc Design NI, who are based in Randalstown.

The building was previously a car showroom and also acted as offices for South Antrim MLA Trevor Clarke.

One of the surveys carried out, which has been published on the Northern Ireland Planning Portal, said: “The site is located at 1 Lough Road, at the junction of Lough Road and Dublin Road, Antrim, within a highly urbanised environment on the south-western edge of Antrim.

“The site consists of a single two-storey building, with areas of bare ground and short vegetation, which has colonised gravel within the southern section of the site.

“The building within the application boundary is a Victorian detached building of brick construction which appears to be currently unoccupied.

“This building is in poor condition and although the roof is intact a number of slipped, missing and broken roof tiles are present.

“A 2m high brick wall encloses a small rear yard to the rear of the house, where a small brick shed with a slate roof is attached.

“The site is heavily illuminated by LED white lighting, and incandescent orange lighting located on adjacent public footpaths. The surrounding habitat is urban in all directions, with the Sixmilewater River located approximately 61m to the north.

“The landscape to the southwest opens out into the amenity grassland, woodland and trees of the Massereene Golf Club, approximately 240m away. The woodland of Reas Wood is found approximately 650m to the southwest, while Lough Neagh is approximately 850m to the southwest.”

A parking survey was also carried out, which said that any shortfall of parking on-site could be accommodated by spaces opposite on Lough Road and at Antrim Forum, which can be accessed through a tunnel under Dublin Road.

There are two listed monuments nearby on Bridge Street, Massereene Bridge and the ‘Horseshoe Shop’, the Massereene family’s old forge, but HED Historic Buildings ‘considers the proposal now satisfies policy requirements, subject to conditions’.

It’s the latest in a series of planned housing developments in or near the town centre.

In February, just across the road, residents of Riverside, Massereene Street and Lough Road met in public at the site of a proposed social housing development which they fear may exacerbate flooding in the area.

The gathering took place at the Bridge Street car park.

Mainline Contracts Ltd of Rasharkin have their eye on lands approximately 100m east of numbers 23, 25, 27, 29a and 29 Dublin Road, Antrim and accessed from Bridge Street. They have proposed a development of 48 units for active elderly residents (over 55s), comprising 45 two-bed apartments and three one-bed apartments.

The site has lain vacant and overgrown for many years.

A design concept statement from Michael Whitley Architects, attached to the application, has given more context to the proposal.

The document said: “There is presently an existing access road and an area of hard standing remaining on site. There had previously a car retail showroom, but this had been demolished in recent years

“The site is presently vacant with only some hardstanding remaining from the previous car showroom.”

It was said that the site is affected by some surface water flooding, but this has been addressed with a flood risk assessment.

“The levels within the flood plain remain unaltered and all development works are outside the affected areas.” said the statement.

“Existing mains, foul and storm drains connections are available at the access to the site.

“Application to connect will be made to Northern Ireland Water.”

The statement continued: “The proposal is for environmentally and economically sustainable quality homes which are site and context specific, and reclaims this vacant brown field site within a well-established adjacent residential area.”

Amenity-wise, it was said that the development will have private and secure amenity spaces, a calm environment and sense of community.

Addressing distinctiveness, it was said that there will be a sense of place and recognizable identity and that the development will enhance existing urban form and have character.

Addressing vehicle movements, it was said that there will be safe access into and egress from site, safe manoeuvring within site and safety within site for pedestrians, residents and children.

The statement said that the proposal utilises an existing ‘substandard’ access into a public car park and the proposal aims to bring the new access road up to DFI adoptable standards and have the new entrance road full adopted.

The document continued: “The proposal is for a well designed four storey flat roof building which has been carefully designed and detailed in such a way to minimise it’s mass and enhance the local character of the area.

“The layout of the main building on plan is “L” shaped. This allows the building to incorporate a larger dual aspect apartment, high quality private amenity space by means of balconies to all units, common rooms and high-quality external amenity space.

“The main form of the external elevations has been broken up by a simple window configuration.”

The document noted that the site is located in proximity to the town centre.

“Parking spaces are to remain private. Parking within the site is provided by a means of un-assigned communal car park to the front of the apartment units.” it said.

“25 unassigned car parking spaces have been provided. This social housing scheme will generate fewer vehicle movements throughout the day and thus be less intensive. There will therefore be no adverse impact on the current roads infrastructure /junctions etc. However, vehicle ownership among future residents is likely to be below average as the dwellings are designated for social housing.”

It was noted that all apartments in the main block benefit from an enclosed private amenity space (ground floor) or balcony (upper floors) with an average of five square metres per apartment.

There will also be two common rooms with a combined area of 194 square metres. An external patio/BBQ area will be provided adjacent to the ground floor common room to create high quality useable outdoor space.

Planting areas will be provided in front of all ground floor apartments. A covered communal bin store, drying area and patio area for residents will also be included.

To the south side of the site a landscaped area has been provided of around 385 square metres for use by all residents.

The document said: “When totalled the amenity for each resident is approximately 20 square metres per unit and well above the planning requirements of 5-10 square metres for an apartment.”

In conclusion, the authors said: “This proposal fulfils the policy objectives and planning control principles, in that it provides more quality and sustainable housing in an existing urban area which is appropriate to the scale and design of the immediate area.

“We believe that this proposal does not compromise the quality of the neighbouring residential area, but enhances it by introducing additional residential use within the area.”

More detail has also been revealed about the proposed part demolition of Castle Mall and replacement with 45 social housing units.

Owners Gleneagles have applied for planning permission for the erection of one detached, 19 terraced houses and 25 apartments, including parking and amenity spaces.

Works will include upgrading of the vehicular access via Railway Street and pedestrian linkages to High Street, and all other associated site and access works.

A Design and Access Statement and a Conservation Approach Report has been compiled by architects Hall Black Douglas.

The document said that the majority of the site is part of the Castle Mall development, accessed from Railway Street in the east and via High Street to the south.

The report said: “The site is currently a retail mall and service yard with a mix of units which will be in part demolished to accommodate the proposals.

“Part of Castle Mall will remain to the west of the site, along with a service yard. The east of the site contains a number of retail units with associated service yards.”

Listed buildings in the area include 16 High Street, the Protestant Hall and the Ulster Bank at Market Square.

It was noted that ‘reconfiguration of the internal mall is being undertaken by others as part of a separate application and works scheme’.

The report said: “The existing mall contributes little to the area in terms of responding to the context of its surroundings. The existing mall has a mansard type roof and has long elevations which are not typical within the conservation area.

“The overall aim of the Antrim Town Strategy is to improve the environment in Antrim Town Centre by looking in detail at the relationships between the buildings and open spaces that coalesce to make up the central area, and to identify the constraints and, more importantly, the opportunities for upgrading and regenerating the centre.”

The proposal includes a total of 45 units, with a mix of three-person/two-bed houses, a five-person/three bed house and five-person/three bedroom duplex apartments, two-person/one bed apartments, and a 14-unit apartment block containing three-person/two-bed apartments as well as two wheelchair accessible units.

Among the documents submitted in support of the part-demolition of the centre was a letter from agents for the development TSA Planning, justifying the loss of retail to Antrim town centre, dated April 2023.

It said that the 2005 extension will be retained as part of the proposal and that the number of vacant units (reduced from 20 units, or 52.6% vacancy to 13, or 39.4% from when new owners Gleneagles took over in 2015) did ‘not provide a particularly pleasant shopping experience or high levels of footfall to attract other retailers’.

Crucially, it said that three units in the extension, completed 18 years after Castle Mall was built, have never been occupied, and the improvement in vacancy rates was improved by five units being occupied by non-rent paying tenants.

In conclusion, the letter said that there was evidence of an ‘oversupply of retail units within Antrim town centre and Castle Mall, resulting in a high long term vacancy rate’.

The proposal was said to be part of a long-term investment strategy by owners Keneagles, including the new Lynas store.