Bushmills riverfront development gets planning permission

The site at 121&123 Main Street had been partially built upon by a development company that went into administration and has become an eyesore in Bushmills. The site was purchased from the administrators last year by Bushview Developments and new plans were submitted in May.

Architect Ciaran Deazley of Gregory Architects said: “The central and riverfront location of this site make it one of the best opportunities on the North Coastto do a development of real quality. In order to deliver that quality, we have changed the design of the scheme from what was previously proposed and reduced the number of homes - providing more space and better layouts. We have also added to the specification and introduced better build materials and we think this is going to be a very positive addition to Bushmills.”

The Commercial agent instructed to promote and sell the scheme is McAfee’s.

Mark Pollock from McAfee’s Coleraine said: “This is such a terrific site with huge potential, so it’s great to see a design that will realise that potential. A development of a smaller number of higher-spec homes in such a prime location is a fantastic residential opportunity for Bushmills and we expect the pricing to be very competitive also, so we hope that there will be strong interest in the development as people gain confidence and return to the property market. Certainly a location like this on the river and in the centre of Bushmills will always be popular and highly valued. “

Architect Ciaran Deazley added: “We worked extremely hard with the developer and the professional team to progress a planning application for a more appropriate and better development for the site. Given the number of problems this neglected site has caused, we are confident that news of the successful planning application will be welcomed by local residents and other stakeholders. We are also very grateful to a range of people including local politicians who have taken a keen interest in this site, and we’re very glad to have jumped this first hurdle.

“We will be moving to tender before Christmas for demolition contractors to clear the site which, if all goes according to plan, should be completed in the New Year – we are eager to start a new chapter for this site as soon as possible.”

Tom Stokes at TSA Planning, Consultants to the planning application added: “This is actually a good example of when an application for appropriate development in a good location can be delivered in a reasonable time frame. Sometimes it’s easy to be hard on the planning system in Northern Ireland but with this application we will see a new development arise on a site that had been an eyesore in Bushmills for some time and both the Planning Service and Moyle Council should be congratulated for their speedy delivery of this permission.”