New residents group to fight rash of developments

Limavady Road Residents Group (LRRG) comprises 70 members and estimates at least 14 individual houses - some Victorian - have been razed and are set to be replaced with various apartment blocks which could see up to 200 units take their place.

The group - which formally launched this week - also has concerns about the volume of traffic in the area, the destruction of healthy trees and illegal dumping.

It intends engaging with local politicians on all of these issues on behalf of the residents of 500 homes between Ebrington Church and Nelson Drive.

The association state: “In recent years the Limavady Road has been blighted with the demolition of houses of character and inappropriate developments, both in design and numbers of units.

“Despite residents raising objections with the Planning Service, this has continued unabated. The Limavady Road was an area with a real community feel, but poor planning decisions have severely affected this.

“Most residents feel they have no say in how the community should be developed. Planning is supposed to take account of indigenous communities and how they will be affected but this is not happening with us.”

The group claim the local streetscape has changed as a result of developers buying property, demolishing buildings and cutting down healthy trees.

But it’s not only incongruous building developments which are exercising residents.

“We also have issues with high volumes of traffic, poor air quality, noise pollution and general road safety, whether as a pedestrian, cyclist or car driver. The Limavady Road has suffered from abnormal amounts of disruption due to road works, mainly by utility companies,” the group claim.

Its stated objectives are to maintain the character of the Limavady Road, object to inappropriate developments and improve the “quality of life” of the residents.

The group says it will also work with the PSNI Neighbourhood Policing Team to reduce crime and it will express the views and opinions of the residents of the Limavady Road to statutory bodies and others.

It intends lobbying local politicians on these issues and meeting regularly to allow members have their say.