Plan for 500 homes in Portadown gets green light

The outline application lodged by agent Alan Patterson Design Ltd, on behalf of applicant Sustar Ltd will see approximately 500 dwellings and a crèche built on lands to the east of Bracken Lodge/Lisnisky Road and Lisnisky Lane.

The development of this 22.38 acres site will be delivered in phases, each of which will require further planning approval.

There are also conditions attached to phases with planning officers wanting to ensure plans for the proposed crèche are submitted and approved by the Council by the time the 250th dwelling is approved.

The crèche must also be completed and operated prior to the occupation of the 300th house.

This is to ensure that the community facility approved within the application is provided.

One of the conditions attached to this approval will ensure a two lane approach to roundabout 7 is submitted to and approved in writing by the Council and this work shall be completed prior to the occupation of 50 households.

The outline proposal also includes a new access point to these lands to be created approximately  40m south of No 20 Lisnisky Lane.

The application has received a total of 16 letters of objection from four separate postal addresses and one letter of support.

Speaking against the proposal on Wednesday afternoon, Councillor Margaret Tinsley said she was not against the application for new housing but was very concerned about “traffic congestion in the area at peak times”.

“Prior to COVID, traffic was queued back from roundabout 8 to roundabout 6 already so how will these roads cope with potentially another 1,500 cars,” said the DUP representative.

“Any improvement the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) are to make to the roads need to be in place now, not when the houses are built.

“I am not against these new homes totally I just want to ensure these traffic problems do not escalate further.”

Speaking on behalf of the application, SDLP Councillor Joe Nelson reminded the committee the lands are already zoned for housing.

“These proposals are for very high quality development, there will be crèche facilities on site and homeowners will be able to walk to local places of employment.

“This fits in with the singular concept of Craigavon and will be a great boost to the local economy with development costs of over £60 million.

“I understand the concerns around traffic but I trust the DfI engineers have done their job and I commend the developer and the team working on this proposal as they have clearly worked hard to come up with this excellent proposal.”

Ulster Unionist Councillor Sam Nicholson identified traffic congestion as the biggest bugbear with regards to this application and asked road service how they had got to the point where they are happy with the application.

A member of Road Service informed the committee that a transport assessment had been submitted as part of the application and was found to be acceptable.

“A range of road improvements are being delivered with this application in a phased manner, including a link road to Old Lurgan Road and a two lane approach to roundabout 7,” said the DfI representative.

It was also revealed that traffic management modelling showed Craigavon’s roundabout’s worked in isolation but when joined together, the problems stemmed from the hospital roundabout junction.

“This was passed on to my colleagues in development control and it was their decision to accept what was presented,” said another DfI representative.

Following questioning about the condition of Lisnisky Lane from Councillor Peter Lavery, Council’s case officer in charge of the report advised this application was an outline application.

“In future applications access will have to be considered and no development shall commence until work has been carried out at roundabout 7,” said the case officer.

“Proposals for a new access to the hospital have been submitted this week but that has to go through due process we can’t take for granted that will be approved when considering this application.”

Alderman Sydney Anderson said he saw this development as an opportunity.

“As the development is being built I would like to think Road Service would take on board the need to develop the road network as well,” said the DUP representative.

Sinn Fein Councillor Paul Duffy described the area as “growing” while his party colleague Councillor Garath Keating said it was clear that traffic was a problem in the area but didn’t feel this was the developer’s fault.

“I don’t think we can lay the blame for traffic problems on a new development,” said Cllr Keating.

“If you are going to use traffic problems as a reason to refuse this application it would be very prejudicial on availability of new housing.”

Councillor Peter Lavery said he was in agreement with this assessment but was mindful of the need to continue to monitor road use as the different phases of this application were submitted.

Ulster Unionist Councillor Sam Nicholson said there was work to be done with this application.

“The traffic problem is not a unique problem and I don’t think we can blame the developer for that, the onus is on the Department to future proof the road network,” said Councillor Nicholson.

SDLP Councillor Mealla Campbell said she had been reassured by all she had heard and proposed accepting the outline application.

This proposal was seconded by Councillor Paul Duffy and committee members voiced their agreement.

Speaking on behalf of Sustar, development consultant Michael Hannath welcomed the positive decision for this application which he said will be very significant for the local area.

He said: “Demand for new homes in this location remains very healthy and our agents have already received direct expressions of interest from over 100 parties for future housing in the next phases since the first phase at Bracken Hall was completed.”

Michael went on to point out that the application has already gone through a rigorous planning process and has been subject to a wider environmental impact assessment and subsequent comprehensive environmental statement.

As part of that process, he said, there have been detailed traffic assessments carried out and important input from a multi-disciplinary team of competent experts led by planning consultants Oriel Planning. Detailed surveys and reports have been carried out in Traffic and Transport, Ecology, Hydrogeology, Geology and Soils, Drainage and Flood Risk, Noise and Vibration, Air Quality and Contaminated Land and Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment. In addition, community consultation events have taken place at which feedback has been received and taken on board.

He said: “Some local residents have objected to the proposal because of concerns that they believe increased housing will add to an already congested stretch of road between the Lisnisky Lane roundabout and the hospital roundabout and heading into town. The main concerns appear to be around traffic congestion at peak am times particularly where we have the merging of traffic from the two-lane carriageway into a single lane coming from Craigavon direction and heading towards the hospital.”

Michael pointed out: “Numerous consultations with Dfi roads over the past three years have informed the proposals and detailed design considerations have been integrated in order to address these concerns. The development team are confident that the development meets the design requirements and policy set out by Dfi Roads and this has been confirmed by Dfi roads in their final consultation responses.

“The current proposal includes the widening of Lisnisky Lane at the approach to roundabout 7. There will be a flare lane added at the bottom of Lisnisky Lane for traffic turning left towards town which should reduce the traffic backing up in this area and permit traffic flow coming down Lisnisky Lane to go around the roundabout and head out of town.

“In addition, the approval has a condition which requires the delivery of a second access to the lands before the occupation of the 200th house.

“Sustar have been working with Dfi Roads and the Trust to assist with the delivery of a suitable option and a design for a new roundabout on Lisnisky Lane at the back entrance to hospital has now been finalised.

“The developer has been working with Dfi roads and the Trust to facilitate the delivery of this for some time now and we understand a planning application is expected to be lodged imminently by the Trust. The proposed roundabout approved will provide a new well needed second access to the Hospital, a realignment of Lisnisky Lane heading to the old Lurgan Road and a connection into the development lands. This roundabout would greatly relieve the peak hour traffic congestion.”

Michael was keen to point out that the positive economic impact of this development is “very significant for the local economy. It will generate employment and jobs across a variety of disciplines, construction jobs, both skilled and unskilled as well as jobs in the materials supply and marketing sectors”.

In total the development costs of this housing scheme are estimated to be in excess of £60 million at present day costs “with a consequential inflow of benefits both financial and social into the local and wider economies”.

He said the developers will now work with the council’s planning team and Dfi roads to bring forward detailed proposals for the final design stage of the development which is proposed to take place over phases and has an expected timeframe of 10-15 years.

“This proposal will bring very significant investment to our local economy at a time when it could do with an injection of positive new,” Michael concluded.