Sandy Row 11 storey apartment block approved despite DUP opposition

An 11 storey buy-to-rent apartment block suited to “young professionals” in the Sandy Row area of South Belfast has been approved, despite opposition from the DUP.

At the Belfast City Council Planning Committee this week, elected representatives approved on a knife-edge vote an application by Artemis Development Ltd at lands bounded by Glenalpin Street, Wellwood Street and Norwood Street, just beside Sandy Row.

The major development will involve the regeneration of an existing surface level car park for the erection of an 11 storey residential development comprising 205 units, and landscaping. The proposal includes 11 car parking spaces at ground floor level, two for disabled spaces.

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DUP members complained the application, which had been previously accepted on "outline,” had no plans for social or affordable housing, and was unsuitable for families with its proposed mix of one and two bedroom apartments. There will be 166 one bed and 39 two bed apartments in the development.

A representative for Artemis stated that as outline permission for the application was given before the new Local Development Plan was passed, they were not obliged to include a social housing element. Last year councillors agreed a new LDP guaranteeing 20 percent social and affordable homes in any new housing development.

The new apartment development was recommended for approval by council officers. A total of 10 objections were received by the council. Objectors included local DUP councillor Tracy Kelly, a representative of Belfast South Community Resources, and neighbouring residents.

Objectors said the proposed 11-storey building would be too high next to nearby two storey housing, and added there would be detrimental noise impacts and a severe loss of light. They complained there was no social housing included in the plan, insufficient parking, insufficient green space for residents and no safe space for children to play.

They added there were too many high rise buildings in the area and not enough smaller-scale housing in the area. There were also concerns that adding more tall apartments facing Hope Street would "make acquiring homes there even more challenging".

The council officer report on the application states: “In response to these objections, officers advise that the principle of development, including the scale parameters of the building, are established through the outline planning permission.

“Noise, amenity impacts, traffic, parking, amenity and open space are considered in the original committee report, appended. There is no evidence that the proposal would result in an unacceptable safety problem; in any event the principle of residential apartments on this site is established through the outline planning permission.

“Any impacts on property values is not a material consideration. Social housing would have had to be secured at outline stage – there was no policy basis at the time of the granting of the outline planning permission in June 2019 for requiring social housing as the decision pre-dated adoption of the Plan Strategy and Policy HOU5. The committee is unable to stipulate the requirement for social housing at the reserved matters stage.”

Last December at Belfast City Council members unanimously refused a plan at the same site for the erection of a new 11 storey student accommodation building comprising 354 units. The application was again by Artemis Development Ltd. It was not recommended by council officers.

The student block plan prompted 166 objections from the public, along with a 271 signature petition. Objectors, as with the apartment block application, raised issues including the need for more social housing in the area, loss of privacy and light, and the impact of noise.

A representative for the developer said at this week’s Planning Committee meeting: “The overall approach taken in the outline is clearly important, because members consider with great care the issue of social and affordable housing at the outline stage. In fact, they deferred the original application to re-consult with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and to confirm there was no social housing requirement at that time.”

Asked why there was no inclusion for family-size three and four bed apartments, another representative said: “The building is intended for the build-to-rent market, that is typically looking at the one bed unit, studios for young professionals. But they can be attractive to retirees. The two bed units could be attractive to smaller family units.”

He said: “There is variety in the size of the units, there is also variety in the layout of the units. They are not all of a uniform size, there is a variety in how those units are provided within the building itself.”

DUP Alderman Dean McCullough said: “The options are clearly very, very limited. When you look at the social mix, it is clearly not overly desirable to families, particularly those families that would be seeking three and four bedroom accommodation.

“There are clearly objections to this particular proposal on the record. The first question is: has there been meaningful engagement with objectors, local representatives and the local community, who will be impacted by the development?

“Secondly, has there been a more up-to-date engagement with the Housing Executive? I appreciate the principle is in place, and (the developer) is not bound by the new policy, but was there any thought given to any percentage of social housing within the mix. And if not, why not?”

The developer’s representative said: “There was no engagement (regarding) the social housing mix, because that had been dealt with at the outline planning permission stage. There is no requirement as a matter of policy or law to revisit that. That is the straightforward answer to that.”

He said: “As regards community engagement, that takes place at the outline stage, and the principles of development have been set and established.”

DUP Councillor Sammy Douglas said: “I understand this was a reserved matter three years ago, but the world has moved on in three years. As a former resident of Sandy Row, where I was born, I would like to think (the developer) would come in and be a good neighbour.

"Does (the developer) not think it is important to come in, look at the surroundings, look at the way things have changed in Sandy Row and other areas, and just be a good neighbour?”

The developer’s representative said: “I understand the point that is being made. The difficulty is the law says there is extant permission for a period of years, and if the reserve matters application is made within the required period of time as a matter of law, that fixes the design and fixes the application that is going to be made.”

Alderman McCullough proposed the Planning Committee reject the planning application. The vote was not recorded, but eight councillors voted in support of the DUP proposal for rejection, while nine councillors voted against the DUP proposal. The proposal fell and the application was accepted.

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