'We need family homes, not AirBnB-style flats': Council to override locals and give green light to four-storey block of 'short-term lets'
A four-storey block of AirBnB-style apartments is to get a green light in east Belfast – despite locals wanting family homes instead.
Council planners say the views of Albertbridge Road residents should be overridden to allow the project to go ahead, as there’s “no evidence there would be significant harm” from it.
To be built close to Connswater Shopping Centre on the former site of a Chinese restaurant, now demolished, the scheme will see 29 “short-term let” flats constructed.
Short-term lets are usually rented by tourists staying for a few days, as popularised by AirBnB.
Locals are worried about the project’s impact on that part of east Belfast, filing objections in which they said the site would be better used for family housing to meet the area’s needs.
They’re also concerned about “people coming and going and not knowing who they are”, and voiced fears about community safety.
But council planners say it should get a green light, stating in an official report: “Whilst community safety can be a material planning consideration, there is no evidence to suggest that the proposal would result in significant harm to the public interest in this respect that would override normal planning policy considerations.”
The scheme, due to appear at a council meeting tonight, has already seen decisions delayed while politicians mulled over whether or not to approve it.
Earlier developments with the project saw locals worried the move will hurt traffic and parking in an already busy area, while NI Water lodged an objection stating there isn’t enough sewer capacity for the four-storey block of one bedroom flats.
Planners have said both should be discounted, suggesting that people wouldn’t need to drive to the development as Albertbridge Road is on both bus and glider lines, while stating NI Water hadn’t provided “clear evidence” of what specific harm there would be from the project.
Officials have argued the scheme will “strengthen and diversify short-term let accommodation” in an area that’s “within walking distance of a tourist attraction” – meaning CS Lewis Square and the Eastside Visitor Centre, both on nearby Newtownards Road.
The project is the brainchild of developers ALMCC Ltd, who according to documents filed with the planning application are based in Holywood, Co Down.