An outline planning application for a holiday park outside Ballyclare was refused at a meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Monday evening.
The application for tourist accommodation at Lisglass Road comprised of caravan pitches, glamping pods or chalets was intended as a short stay facility on a “small scale”.
However, a planning officer told councillors that the “landscape does not have the capacity to absorb this development” saying that it would be a “prominent feature” on the landscape.
He said that the design and lay-out is “unacceptable” and the application could not demonstrate that the proposal would not have an “adverse impact on protected species”.
A report to councillors said that the site is located “in close proximity to the junction of the Lisglass Road and the A8 Dual Carriageway close to the settlement of Bruslee”.
It was stated:”It is intended to provide a short stay facility in the form of caravan pitches, glamping pods or chalets or a combination of these.”
It was also noted that the agent indicated the proposal “satisfies the criteria laid down for a small-scale tourist facility of this type and would provide something that doesn’t exist in this area and would be a valuable asset for the borough”.
The applicant’s representative asked if the application could be deferred to allow an opportunity to provide a flood risk assessment. An officer told councillors that there is a stream running along the site which “triggered the need for a flood risk assessment”.
Threemilewater Alliance Alderman Tom Campbell moved the recommendation to refuse the application seconded by Antrim and Newtownabbey Mayor Councillor Billy Webb MBE.
