New gambling house approved for city centre spot despite objections from Belfast’s oldest church

​At the monthly meeting of the Belfast City Council planning committee earlier this week, elected representatives approved an application for the change of use from retail unit to amusement arcade and adult gaming centre at 51 Rosemary Street, Belfast, BT1, just off Royal Avenue. The applicant is Sam Stranaghan, EZE Gaming Ltd, Ava House, Prince Regent Road, Belfast.

At a planning committee meeting earlier this summer, and despite council officers recommending approval for the application, councillors decided on a deferral with a view to “consider all concerns that members had” and potentially compiling valid reasons to reject the application.

Council officers returned to the committee without changing their position, and on Tuesday evening the application was approved without a vote or any elected member formally objecting.

The First Church’s building at 41 Rosemary Street is the city’s oldest surviving place of worship. 51 Rosemary Street was granted permission for a shop sign as an Ann Summers sex shop in 2005. The site has been derelict in recent years.

South Belfast DUP MLA and the current Assembly Speaker, Edwin Poots earlier this year lodged an objection to the application at City Hall. There were three letters of objection in all sent to the council.

They raised concerns including the nature of the description of the application, the principle of a non-retail use in this location, and the impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area. Objectors also raised issues of noise, litter, and traffic, health and well-being, the impact on the image and profile of Belfast city centre and fears of “clustering” of gaming centres in the area.

There were no objections from any of the statutory partners required in the application process.

At the Planning Committee meeting on Tuesday, Diana Thompson on behalf of First Presbyterian (Non-subscribing) Church said: “The approval will cause a cluster of these uses within a small area, and it will be a bad neighbour to the church.”

She added: “I would respectfully draw your attention to the words of the supplementary planning guidance of the Local Development Plan, which are unequivocal in a Belfast context. They say amusement arcades reduce the character of an area. Your Building Control says four things about the impact of arcades in Belfast’s prime retail core. They have a narrow appeal, and so low footfall. It is highly questionable whether they add vitality to an area.

“They do not provide an active street frontage at the ground floor level because their interior is screened. They do little to project an image that Belfast is open for business.”

A representative for the applicant said the existing premises were “dilapidated and a blight on Rosemary Street” and said the £200,000 plan would “support vibrancy by refurbishing a vacant derelict unit, retaining eight jobs and bringing footfall.”

He added there “was no sustainable basis for refusing this planning permission.”