New neighbourhood planned on site of old Enkalon factory in Antrim – but planners warn of possible archaeological discoveries beneath the surface

A new neighbourhood is planned in Antrim town, on a patch of wasteland which has been abandoned for years.
By Adam Kula
Published 2nd Aug 2022, 11:05 BST
Updated 2nd Aug 2022, 11:32 BST
The land in question, facing Kerr's TyresThe land in question, facing Kerr's Tyres
The land in question, facing Kerr's Tyres

The old Enkalon nylon factory used to stand close to the tyre plant on the northern edge of Antrim, but was closed in 1985.

Now an application has gone in for 74 homes on land formerly occupied by the plant.

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However, developers have been warned that the plot of land may contain archeological items which could impact any decision to proceed.

Blueprints for one of the proposed new homesBlueprints for one of the proposed new homes
Blueprints for one of the proposed new homes

Parts of the old Enkalon site have already been built on; this is an outstanding empty corner of the site, just beside the Randalstown Road.

The new planning permission being sought is for a “residential development of 74 dwellings (comprising 31 detached, 36 semi-detached dwellings, 5 Chalet Bungalows and 2 apartments), including solar panels, garages, open space and landscaping, access, internal road network and all associated site and access works”.

The developer is Lotus Homes, and the planning authority is Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

No timetable has yet been given for a decision.

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A larger illustration of the planned house typesA larger illustration of the planned house types
A larger illustration of the planned house types

But in the meantime, the Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division has written a response to the developer, saying: “There are a large number of industrial heritage sites in the immediate vicinity.

“A number of previously unrecorded archaeological monuments were uncovered during the construction of Junction One Retail Park.

“A substantial, extensive new archaeological site was uncovered to the rear of Kerr’s Tyres on the site of the former Enkalon Playing Fields...

“There is a high potential for this application site to contain extensive below-ground archaeological remains.

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The full development siteThe full development site
The full development site

“Given the scale and nature of the archaeological remains found on the former Enkalon Playing Fields site, HED (Historic Monuments) advises that archaeological mitigation should occur at an early stage in order to inform the proposed site layout.”

Shortly after the turn of the millennium, there had been an number of finds in the general vicinity of the factory and its surrounds.

These included two Bronze Age roundhouses as well as gunflints and prehistoric flint tools.

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Related topics:AntrimNewtownabbey Borough Council