City council approves £95m urban village comprising 653 homes and 19 storey apartment block in major developments for Belfast

This week’s Belfast City Council Planning Committee gave the green light for a new £95 million urban village called “Glenmona.” It is one of the largest applications ever received by the council, involving the construction of more than 650 social and affordable homes on a 75 acre site in the foothills of Divis mountain, on an incline rising from the Glen Road towards the Upper Springfield Road.

The application comprises 653 homes, of which 549 units will be social housing and 104 will be affordable housing. There will be a community centre with MUGA (multi-use games area) pitch, two care homes, a neighbourhood retail centre, a hotel, office and business space and children’s play areas.

Sinn Fein councillor for the area, Arder Carson, welcomed the application. He said: “We’re not just building houses here, we are actually building a community, and there are more challenges to that beyond just the construction phase. The supporting infrastructure is to be welcomed on this site.”

The Planning Committee also approved plans for a new 19 storey apartment block just south of the Lagan Bridge in east central Belfast.

The build-to-rent development, which is to be known as “The Residence,” will comprise of 10 studios, 51 one-bedroom and 90 two-bedroom apartments overlooking the River Lagan and the Titanic Quarter. It will be an L-shaped building with two interlocking blocks of red brick.

The £25 million residential development by Vinder Capital and Aldgate Developments will transform a car park site on Scrabo Street, opposite the existing Quay Gate House, and beside Station Street leading to the Odyssey and SSE Arena.

Two councillors, from the People Before Profit Party and the Green Party, voted against, while another Green councillor abstained. Eleven councillors from the other parties approved the plan.

Green Councillor Aine Groogan said: “This is right beside a lot of busy roads. Residents are looking out at a railway bridge, car parking, and the M3 slip road. That does not strike me as an appropriate outlook.

The committee also approved plans for a pair of three storey buildings containing a total of 27 apartments at Connswater, on land between Lewis Park and Lewis Mews.