Threatened wood saved as council breaks with own planners

Tullynagardy Wood on the outskirts of Newtownards is home to a host of protected trees, but a proposal to construct a housing development on more than one-third of the site was given a thumbs-up by officials in Ards and North Down Council.

In what’s being hailed as a victory for people power, after a campaign by nearby residents the council overruled its own planners and refused permission to build on the much-loved site.

Surveys have stated that the oldest trees in Tullynagardy have been there for around 200 years, and the initial verdict from planners outraged the Woodland Trust, who described a recommendation that the housing scheme should go ahead as “threatening an irreplaceable habitat”.

The scheme was to be mainly built on a clearing in the wood, and would have involved chopping down 18 trees. Planners had broadly accepted arguments on behalf of developers WJ Law that the clearing was distinct from parts of the site with heavier tree coverage and so construction could be permitted, and also that many of the trees to be felled were not in good health.

At a council meeting last night (7th), however, the council decided that it would block the development on the grounds that it would result in the loss of open space as well as damage to “a long-established woodland”.

Acknowledging that it’s “incredibly rare” for councillors to overturn the verdict of their own planners, DUP alderman Stephen McIlveen said the reasons for refusing permission had been checked and are legally sound.

The decision to block the housing scheme was passed unanimously, with little in the way of comments made about it.

Strangford MLA Nick Mathison had backed residents near Tullynagardy Wood in their quest to save the site.

Delighted to see the housing scheme stopped, the Alliance man said: “This is some of the longest established woodland in the local area, it forms an ecosystem and habitat as a whole, and any attempt to develop it is unacceptable.

“I do not accept that the site can be artificially divided up, with one small section being identified as suitable for housing and the rest not.

“I have had contact from so many residents across Newtownards who are horrified at the notion of a housing development on this site. [The initial recommendation to approve it] flies in the face of the council’s climate and biodiversity commitments, and its public statements around prioritising green spaces in the borough.

“Local residents remain resolutely opposed to this application and I am glad the right outcome has been reached, with this vital woodland habitat preserved and protected.”

During the campaign, Mr Mathison criticised Northern Ireland’s tree protection orders, stating that although the public thinks they mean trees are safe from the axe, in practice they’re not much more than a few extra hoops for property developers to jump through.

“A protection order does not mean a tree can never be felled, it just means you have to have good reason to take a tree down,” he said. “Often, those reasons aren’t too difficult for developers to demonstrate – anything from concerns about the health of trees to a development being impossible without taking them down.”