HMOs, First Trust bank conversion and flats in town centre approved

Planning permission for change of use from a house at Bush Manor and an apartment at Millhouse Dale to Houses of Multiple Occupation has been approved by the Planning Committee of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Both were from the same applicant.

Meanwhile, a plan to transform the old First Trust Bank building on Antrim High Street to retail units and apartments - which was recommended for refusal - was approved after the committee overturned the officers’ recommendation by eight votes in favour and one against.

There had been concerns over a lack of parking and impact on the conservation area.

Both the item and a linked application for demolition consent were approved with a number of conditions and mitigations.

And another proposal to convert a Market Square building across the street into flats was also approved, against the advice of planning officers.

There were also concerns over a lack of parking.

Both applicants proposed providing residents of the apartments with travel cards for bus and rail journeys and Antrim Town reps speaking in support of the Market Square application noted the high levels of free parking in the area.

Councillors again voted to approve by eight to one, and recommended a similar series of conditions and mitigations.

A decision on demolition consent will be delegated to planning officers.

The meeting started in a dramatic fashion, when an objector to a proposal in Newtownabbey made an outburst and refused to stop talking when asked to by Committee Chair, Sinn Fein Councillor Rosie Kinnear.

She adjourned the meeting and eventually asked that the person was removed from the chamber at Mossley Mill.

See more details in the paper tomorrow and reports from the meeting in next week’s paper.