A PROPOSAL for new apartment blocks in Belfast city centre has been delayed after councillors raised concerns over a lack of social and affordable housing.
Belfast City Council planning officers had previously recommended a proposal to demolish an existing multi-storey car park for the erection of four rental apartment blocks in the Tomb Street and Corporation Street areas.
It would see 298 new rental units in total, 160 of which will be one-bedroom apartments with the remaining units being two and three bedrooms and studios.
The plan by ES Corporation Street Ltd, Cookstown, also includes a ground floor commercial unit, while the applicant has agreed to make a £400,000 contribution towards improving public realm and connectivity to the city centre.
However, members of the council's Planning Committee questioned the lack of social housing provision, and the planning officers' recommendation fell after it was voted against by Sinn Féin, Alliance, Green Party and People Before Profit reps.
A Sinn Féin proposal to defer the application to see if there was "any room for voluntary social and affordable" was subsequently passed.
Sinn Féin councillor Matt Garrett said he was "not content that enough ambition has been shown in trying to reach an agreement or a direction in travel around the social and affordable".
People Before Profit's Matt Collins said the "direction of travel" in Belfast city centre would mean there would be "a lot of student accommodation, a lot of private rental accommodation, but very little in the way of social housing", adding: "That is not going to rebalance the housing situation to where we need it."
Meanwhile, Royal Mail, which has its sorting HQ in Tomb Street, has written to the council to urge that if the proposal gets the green light, planning conditions are recommended to protect future residents in the developments from being impacted by noise from its operations.
A council report said Royal Mail has asked that "noise insulation measures" be included in the development and "permanently retained" to avoid future complaints.