Planning Approval Granted for 23-Home Coleraine Development At Former BKS Site

Planning permission has been granted for a major housing development at Ballycairn Road in Coleraine following a meeting of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council's Planning Committee on Wednesday morning.

Members approved an application by O'Kane Group Ltd for the redevelopment of the former BKS site at 47 Ballycairn Road, paving the way for the construction of 23 new homes on land which has largely lain vacant for the past decade.

The development will comprise 11 chalet bungalows, four detached homes and eight semi-detached 2.5-storey dwellings, together with garages, parking, landscaping and associated site works.

Planning officers had recommended approval ahead of the meeting, concluding that the proposal was acceptable in principle and complied with a range of regional and local planning policies. The site lies within the settlement limit for Coleraine and officers considered the scheme to represent an appropriate redevelopment of a brownfield site.

The committee heard that seven letters of objection had been submitted, alongside one neutral comment and one letter of support. Concerns raised by nearby residents included traffic congestion, overlooking, loss of privacy, tree removal, noise during construction, dust and the potential impact on neighbouring properties.

However, statutory consultees, including the Department for Infrastructure Roads, Northern Ireland Water, Environmental Health, DFI Rivers and DAERA, did not object to the amended plans.

Planning officers noted that the original proposal had been amended to reduce the number of homes from 24 to 23 in order to improve amenity space provision and address parking concerns identified during the assessment process.

The report concluded that the development would deliver a modern housing scheme in place of a former office complex that has been largely unused for around ten years, describing the proposal as a "betterment" for the site and the surrounding area.

Planning permission was granted subject to a series of conditions relating to drainage, landscaping, biodiversity protection, contamination safeguards, road improvements and sewerage connections.

The Ballycairn Road site, located approximately 1.2 kilometres north-west of Coleraine town centre, was previously occupied by BKS (NI) Ltd, an aerial photography and surveying company which operated from the premises between 1965 and 2015.