Homes approved for Down Royal site

The popular nightspot closed its doors several years ago and the site, which was then levelled, has lain dormant ever since.

In 2008 developers submitted a planning application seeking permission to build houses and apartments on the site.

The application proved to be a controversial one, with local residents lodging objections with the Planning Service, opposing the development, which, they said, would be over-intensification of the site.

In total twenty-eight letters of objection were sent to the Planning Service against the scheme.

Late last year the Planners indicated their intention to approve the application, however Lisburn Councillor Alderman Jonathan Craig asked for the decision to be deferred until a further meeting was held to discuss the plans.

The developer has reduced the scale of the scheme in a bid to address residents’ concerns, with four storey blocks being reduced to three storeys and three storey blocks being reduced to two, resulting in an overall reduction in the number of units in the development.

At a recent meeting of Lisburn City Council’s Planning Committee the green light was finally given for the development, which could see twelve two storey townhouses, as well as sixty-eight apartments being built.

The development will also include a basement car park and landscaped courtyard.

Speaking at the meeting earlier this month, Alderman Paul Givan, said he believed local residents would still be unhappy with the development. “Residents may still not be happy but this in an improvement on what was originally proposed,” he added.