New Derry housing estate approved despite warnings of 'undesirable precedent'

Members of Derry & Strabane Council’s Planning Committee approved the 57 dwelling development, which will also include access, parking, a public open space, landscaping, a bus turning circle, and ancillary works, on lands between Woodside Road and Oldbridge.

At the July monthly committee meeting, a Council Planning Officer recommended that members refuse the application and noted that the site lies outside the settlement limit, as defined in the 2011 Derry Area Plan.

They noted that the development will be on green belt lands and an area of high scenic value, so it is “not considered to be acceptable in principle”.

The Officer added: “There’s been no overriding reason to demonstrate why the strict policies that are exercised in the green belt should be relaxed, or why the development is essential in this rural location and could not be located within the settlement development limits.”

“The applicant’s justification for development of this location includes that there’s a lack of adequate housing land to meet the social needs in the Gobnascale area, [but] we continue to monitor the amount of housing land available within the city and we’re satisfied that there remains a considerable amount of land for development.

“We would also note the response from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), which states that the Waterside housing need assessment is due to be met by NIHE-supported schemes, that are situated within the development limits, and of such they don’t support this development.

“There are currently ten applications under consideration for residential development outside the limits, and this equates to approximately 708 new units. This includes the current application, and two others that are in close proximity, and this would bring a total of 278 new units for the Waterside area.

“So any departure from the [Derry] Area Plan would create an undesirable precedent for similar housing and developments in lands outside the development limits, and officers are concerned that approving this application would be prejudicial to decisions which remain to be taken under the LDP (Local Development Plan).”

The Officer noted that council received over 140 letters of objection from the public and, while council received a petition of support signed by over 500 residents and over 90 letters of support, the Planning Department “don’t feel that they outweigh the principle of the development, given its location in the countryside and Greenbelt”.

Speaking in objection, resident Mark Hamill claimed the application represented a “clear, calculated attempt to initiate a piecemeal development”, as the developer owns fields surrounding the site.

“It is evident that [the applicants] have designed this project with further expansion in mind, particularly through the inclusion of a through road clearly intended to facilitate further development beyond what is currently proposed,” he claimed. “Such a strategy undermines the proper planning procedure and community input [and] seeks to gain approval incrementally for what is, in effect, a much larger development.”

A spokesperson for the applicant said the development “meet a significant shortfall in the provision of family-sized accommodation in the Waterside 1 area”.

They added: “Most significantly, the proposal is shovel ready and the applicant aims to start construction before the end of the financial year.

“A solution has been agreed with NI Water to upgrade the sewer network, which can be delivered within this time frame, and there is significantly more public support for the proposal than against.

“The projected need [by 2027] is 232 units for the Waterside 1 area, only 93 units have been programmed to be delivered, [and] of these 85 percent are apartments.

“The applicant has carried out an extensive search for lands within the settlement limit to accommodate the proposal; the owner of undeveloped housing lands has been approached [but] will not sell. There is therefore no prospect of these lands or any other lands in Waterside 1 being delivered in the short-term to address the immediate social need.”

Sinn Féin councillor Sean Fleming proposed that council approved the application.

He noted that, according to the LDP, if council encounters a shortage of housing land in areas with a very high social housing need, and no alternatives can be identified, it may be necessary to permit additional housing land, including those outside of settlement development limits.

“There is no land available for family -sized residential social housing,” Councillor Fleming said. “Admittedly there are apartments being built in the Waterside, but these don’t address the social housing need of young families in Waterside 1.”

DUP Alderman and Deputy Mayor, Niree McMorris, abstained from voting on the application and said that she “can’t justify putting development in areas outside of the zoned area”.

She added: “If this is the precedent set, there’s no reason why the next field – and the next field, and the next field – wouldn’t come before us.”

The development was approved with eight members voting in favour and three abstaining.

The application from Radius Housing Association & Crumley Developments Ltd is listed as a “proposed social housing development comprising 57 residential units with associated access (including right hand turning lane), parking, public open space, landscaping, bus turning circle and ancillary works" at lands between 7 Woodside Road and 15, 16, 23 and 24 Oldbridge in the Waterside area of Derry.

Andrew Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter.