Derry City and Strabane District Council has rejected preliminary plans for a 47-dwelling development in Derry, due to numerous issues including a lack of sewage capacity, urban sprawl and no attached housing association.

Members of September’s Planning Committee were asked to consider an outline application for 47 new residential units, including four complex needs dwellings, car parking, landscaping, and ancillary development with access arrangements from Hawthorn Way, at lands situated 150 meters to the west of Hawthorn Drive in Hazelbank and fronting onto Springtown Road .

A planning officer said the development would be located on a greenfield site outside Derry’s development limits, and its entrance point would be the top of Hawthorn Way.

They noted that council received 28 representations, including one from an elected member representing Hawthorn Way residents. They outlined several objections, including its location within the Green Belt, road safety concerns, and a lack of proposed amenities.

Members voted in favour of rejecting the plans.

placeholder image — Members voted in favour of rejecting the plans.

The officer added that consultations were raised with DfI Roads, NI Water, NIEA, and Environmental Health, which “have not been satisfactorily dealt with” by the applicant, and outlined a total of 15 reasons for refusal. Reasons included the setting of an undesirable precedent for similar developments outside settlement limits, that the development would not integrate satisfactorily into the landscape, erosion of rural character, and increased traffic.

Additionally, the officer said that that the proposal will result in an intensification of foul discharge into the existing capacity constrained public waste water network.

The Officer said that the application had failed to meet three tests required for council to make an exception for developments on the Green Belt.

“The application does not have Housing Executive support, there is a large amount of land available within development limits, and there’s no housing association attached to the proposal,” they said.

“The application form was submitted three times during process and however no indication was made that it was for social housing.

“Whilst within one of the documents there was a housing association mentioned, when we clarified with that housing association they advised that this was not factually correct, so therefore the development has failed the three tests.”

The officer added that the development would mar the distinction between the defined settlement limit surrounding countryside and result in an urban sprawl.

Additionally, as the applicant would not own the land, an access road could not be adopted by DfI Roads, which would lead to issues around the installation and maintenance of street lighting, as well as bin collection.

The officer concluded: “There will be no connection to the sewers through this and I discussed this with NI Water about four or five weeks ago. They had given advice to the agent about a year and a half ago but they haven’t followed that up, so any application will essentially be starting again, process which at this point is really measured in years rather than months.

“This also adds to whether the development can actually be delivered to address the need.”

They recommend that members refuse the application.

A spokesperson for the applicant said they had “engaged excessively” with consultees to address roads, drainage and infrastructure issues, and clarified that all of the homes would be for social housing.

They added that the development would implement “appropriate measures to minimise disturbance” to residents of Hawthorn Way.

Members voted to reject the proposal, with Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson and independent councillor Paul Gallagher abstaining.