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Northern Irish HA gets green light for 258 homes in Derry
Outline plans from a Northern Irish housing association to build 258 social and affordable homes have been approved despite opposition from planning officers due to the location of the development.
Northern Irish HA gets planning permission for more than 250 homes despite opposition from officials #UKhousingDerry City and Strabane District Council’s planning committee voted in favour of the plans from Apex Housing Association and construction company Hartlands (NI) on Wednesday.
Apex, which owns 6,000 homes across Northern Ireland, will manage the new properties, which will be located in the north west of the city.
The approval came despite planning officers recommending refusal over issues to do with the location of the site. The applicants argued there was a “screaming need for social housing” in the area.
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Officials said the proposal was contrary to policy, as the site lies outside the Derry Area Plan 2011 and is in what is considered to be “rural countryside”.
They said approval “would set an undesirable precedent for development outside the defined settlement limits”.
“Whilst it is acknowledged that there is a need for social housing for the city and in particular the West Bank, officers consider there is no need to build it in the countryside as there is an ample supply of zoned housing land and land existing within the limits of the development of the city which can accommodate this housing in a more sustainable manner,” the planning report said.
At the planning meeting, Daniel McAteer, a representative for Apex and Hartlands, said the current local plan is “hopelessly” out of date. “There is a screaming need for social housing in this area.
“Every single political party that we talk to will tell us that they could fill these houses tomorrow morning.”
There are more than 23,000 households on the housing waiting list in Northern Ireland.
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