Portstewart holiday 'bubble domes' plan approved despite concerns over impact on Cromore House

The site is located off the Cromore Road in Portstewart and the proposal involves five bubble domes for holiday use, along with a reception unit, guest and staff parking and landscaping.

It was approved at a meeting of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s Planning Committee despite opposition from the owner of Cromore House who said the plans would impact “the residential amenity” of the house, including loss of privacy, noise, odour, light and general disturbance, and impact on character.

A lawyer representing the house owner told the planning committee that “the form and nature” of the domes is “inappropriate”, emphasising that the site is an “historic wilderness wooded area”, not a “holiday park”.

She added that the reception building design is “at odds with the design of the estate” and said that future funding for the restoration of the house would be “unlikely” if the holiday park was approved.

A report submitted to the committee concedes that on assessment of the proposals “it was considered bubble domes six and seven were too close to the shared boundary [with Cromore House] resulting in noise and disturbance concerns given the relatively open boundary”.

As such, these bubble domes were removed from the layout with the proposed development now including a total of five.

The report continues: “The design of the bubble domes and reception building in terms of layout, scale, massing and materials is considered acceptable.

“The proposal is acceptable in terms of visual integration and will not harm rural character. The proposal is not considered to create unacceptable conflict with adjacent land uses and there is no unacceptable adverse effect on neighbouring properties.

“The proposal does not harm the setting of nearby listed buildings. The proposal is acceptable in terms of archaeology.”