THE owners of a north Belfast retail park have lodged two separate planning applications for the site.
Agents for Hillview Centre Belfast Ltd want to develop Hillview Retail Park for commercial purposes despite calls for social housing to be built in the area.
The Crumlin Road site was in the headlines earlier this year when The Irish News revealed that it has received almost £2m in rates relief over the past 10 years.
Housing campaigners were angered last October when the owners submitted plans to build a car showroom and drive-through restaurant and café on the seven-acre site of the disused retail centre.
They say the land, where a weekly Sunday market and car boot sale take place, should be turned over for social housing.
The previous anchor tenant, Dunnes Stores, left in 2007.
The planning application is described as a “major develoment” and will be considered by councillors on the planning committee at Belfast city hall.
However, in February this year a new application was submitted to planners that does not include the restaurant and car sales premises.
It is not a “major application” and as a result will not automatically be referred to the planning committee, with a decision on that to be taken later.
A spokesman for Belfast City Council said that both applications are “live and valid”.
A spokesman for Hillview Centre Belfast Ltd said: “There is a major application which is the masterplan of the proposed redevelopment, including a restaurant unit, a car showroom and two drive-thru restaurant/coffee pods.
“The minor application includes the sub-division of one retail unit into two units, recladding and the reconfiguration of the existing car park.”
Sean Brady from the campaign group Participation and the Practice of Rights said planning "safeguards and measures" should be followed.
