Infill dwelling and garage at Lands Approx 80M South of 125 Drumenny Rd Ardboe, The Diamond

What was proposed

The application sought outline permission for a dwelling and garage on land about 80 metres south of 125 Drumenny Road.

“…and garage on extensive grounds immediately to its north and several large sheds immediately to its south. The sheds to the south comprise a relatively new domestic shed on a large concrete yard immediately adjacent the site and several older agricultural sheds immediately beyond to both sides of the lane, which loops back on the Drumenny Road.”

“…sheds that bound the site to the south (circled green in Fig 2 & 3 above.) Description of Proposal This is an outline planning application for a dwelling and garage to be located on lands approx. 80m south of 125 Drumenny Road Ardboe.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site is a flat rectangular plot in the rural countryside, accessed from Drumenny Road through an existing lane beside houses, sheds and a wind turbine.

“Characteristics of the Site and Area The site is located in the rural countryside as depicted within the Dungannon and South Tyrone Area Plan approximately 3.6km north of Ardboe; and 3.4km west of Lough Neagh. Fig 1: Site outlined red. Fig 2: Site outlined red. Wind turbine in vicinity circled green. The site is a flat rectangular shaped plot of land cut from the lane side frontage of a much larger agricultural field.”

Officer report

Earlier planning history

A previous application granted an extended residential curtilage and retention of a domestic store on land immediately south of the site.

“LA09/2025/0632/F - Extension to residential curtilage and retention of domestic store as built (up plus 5 years) - 125 Drumenny Road Ardboe - Granted 19 th…”

“September 2025 The above application includes the large domestic store located on lands immediately south of the current site. Consultees 1. DfI Roads were consulted in relation to access arrangements and raised no objections subject to standard conditions and informatives. Accordingly, I am content the proposal will comply with the provisions of Planning Policy Statement 3 Access, Movement and Parking. 2.”

Officer report

What officers recommended

Officers recommended refusal because the proposal had not shown that future residents would be protected from wind turbine noise above the required limits.

“Taking account of the above the agent / applicant was asked to provide ‘information from the turbine owners/operators to advise what is happening to the turbine.’ The agent then emailed to advise they had been unable to obtain a letter from the turbine owner and subsequently asked if Planning consider the principle of an infill dwelling under Policy CTY 8 of PPS 21 exists then a recommendation be put to Planning Committee in order…”

“…proposals. That ETSU-R-97 remains the UK standard methodology for the assessment of noise from wind energy development and it, along with ‘A Good Practice Guide to the Application of ETSU-R-97 for the Assessment and Rating of Wind Turbine Noise’ prepared by the Institute of Acoustics, should be taken into account by decision- takers.”

Officer report

The main planning issue

Officers considered the infill principle acceptable, but found the required turbine noise assessment had not been provided.

“…dwelling is proposed it is capable of siting up to two dwellings (approx. 36m frontage each) on similar sized plots to properties within the line of development taking account of the plot size of the neighbouring domestic shed. I consider the principle of infilling the gap under Policy CTY 8 is acceptable. Fig 5: Existing site frontages and proposed site frontage of gap site indicated in yellow and blue, respectively.”

“Whilst I consider the principle of an infill dwelling on this site does exist under Policy CTY 8 of PPS 21, given the sites proximity to a wind turbine the proposal fails to comply with Edition 2 of the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (SPPS which replaced PPS 18: Renewable Energy) in that it has not been demonstrated by the agent / applicant that the dwelling, if permitted, would not be exposed to noise levels in excess of ETSU-R-97 limits cited in…”

Officer report

Residents’ views

No third-party objections, support letters or petitions were received.

“Case Officer Report Site Location Plan This material is based upon Crown Copyright and is reproduced with the permission of Land & Property Services under delegated authority NIMA CS&LA581 from the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office © Crown copyright and database rights.”

“Representations Press advertisement and Neighbour Notification have been carried out in line with the Council's statutory duty. At the time of writing, no third-party objections were received. Relevant Planning History…”

Officer report

Who spoke

The Head of Local Planning asked for the application to be deferred for an office meeting.

What the committee decided

The committee resolved to defer the application for an office meeting.

“Resolved That planning application LA09/2025/1297/O be deferred for an office meeting.”

Minutes