Office and five apartments at King House, Holywood

“The proposal is to demolish the detached single storey building to the rear of the site, the boundary wall and also some elements of the rear elevation of King House and then the erection of a link and a four storey block to the rear. The existing King House building will remain in situ with its internal provisions. The new extension to the rear will facilitate an office unit of 60sqm and five new apartments provided over the first, second and third floors.”

“The application is site is located on the north-western side of High Street and is occupied by a symmetrical two storey block of former two dwellings with central coachway, dating from the middle part of the 19th Century (named King House.) The building has been converted to commercial use and is occupied by several businesses including a barbers, guitar tuition and beauty salon.”

“The character of the surrounding area is largely commercial to the south but residential to the north. Strand Avenue is a large housing development which includes terraced properties and substantial apartment blocks. There are also three storey apartment blocks adjacent to King House, overlooking High Street.”

“LA06/2023/1985/DCA - King House 37 - 39 High Street, Holywood - Demolition of building to rear and partial demolitions to rear wall of main building – Under consideration.”

“The site is within the settlement of Holywood and is located within the Town Centre, Primary Retail Core and Conservation Area in draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015.”

“Furthermore, the surrounding area is characterised by apartment blocks which are 3-4 storeys in height along High Street and Strand Avenue. The location of the development would appear as a continuation of this existing density along the streetscape of Strand Mews and would not be considered to be inappropriate. Overall, the proposed building is reflective of the general character of the locality.”

“The proposal was accompanied by an ‘Existing and Proposed Daylight Analysis’ (Published on the Planning Portal). The analysis looks at the shadows casted by the existing and proposed building forms. The examples provided include 15 March (10am and 4pm) 15 June (10am and 4pm) and 15 September (10am and 4pm).”

“As detailed above the development will see the inclusion of small enclosed balconies. The enclosure of these will help to limit noise while the limited space mean that they will be unlikely to generate significant nuisance. The type of development is also not considered to generate significant impacts through noise and is not considered appropriate to request such information.”

“Consultations – synopsis of responses: DFI Roads No objection NI Water No objection subject to condition Environmental Health No objection Council’s Conservation Officer No objection Historic Environment Division No objection…”

“Letters of Support 0 Letters of Objection 59 from 8 addresses (2 Pro-forma letters received Petitions 1”

“In this instance the total number of objections is considered to be 8.The issues raised within the objections can be summarised as;”

“Development increasing population density • Potential for noise and light pollution on nearby residential receptors • Impact on parking • Impact on residential character • Loss of light and overshadowing • Impact on the Conservation area • Impact from Construction traffic • Not all nearby properties being neighbour notified.”

“He asked how many people would be using the office space which would potentially bring additional cars. [the agent] outlined that car parking demand occurred at different times of the day. The peak parking demand for residential uses was overnight (6 pm – 8 am). He advised that he drove through Holywood every day, very early in the morning and there were rarely any cars parked in the High Street stretch of the road at that time.”

“He recognised parking was an issue and he felt it was a difficult call to make. The proposal was a good design and he hoped travel cards suggested as a mitigation measure would help. He also hoped the developer would work with the new tenants in terms of parking. Councillor Kendall could not support the proposal.”

“FOR (5) AGAINST (5) Abstained (2) ABSENT (4) Aldermen Alderman Alderman McAlpine Graham McDowell Smith McIlveen Councillors Councillors Councillors Councillors Cathcart Hennessy McClean Kerr Harbinson Kendall Smart Morgan Wray McCollum McKee RESOLVED, on the proposal of Alderman Smith, seconded by Councillor Wray, that the recommendation be adopted, that planning permission be granted and that delegated authority be awarded to the Planning department to impose the negative…”

“No works or development shall commence on site, including demolition, site clearance and site preparation, until an Environmental Construction Management Plan has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Council. The Construction Management Plan shall include measures to control noise, dust, vibration and other nuisance during the demolition/construction phase.”

“The windows, as indicated in blue on Drawing No. 11, shall be finished with obscure glass and be non-opening unless the parts of the window which can be opened are more than 1.7 metres above the floor of the room in which the window is installed. These windows shall be installed prior to the occupation any unit hereby approved and be permanently retained thereafter.”