Work is set to begin on 54 new homes in Derry in October after local councillors issued approval for the development despite its own planners opposing the move.
The 54 new homes will be constructed by Apex Housing Association at a vacant site adjacent to Sheriffs Glen on Springtown Road.
Comprising of 48 new houses and six apartments, the will also include a new children’s play area.
The application had come before a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Planning Committee in September of last year, where a majority of councillors voted in support of a refusal being issued for the plans, despite opposition from the SDLP and some members of Sinn Fein.
Planning powers transferred from the Department of Environment (DoE) to the council on April 1, 2015.
The proposal came back before a special meeting of the council’s Planning Committee at which Proinsias McCaughey, principal planning officer with the council outlined the reasons as to why they were still of the opinion that the plans should be refused.
He told the meeting the site lay outside the current housing development limits of the city, which he said was used by planners to ‘facilitate growth and protect the countryside from urban sprawl and urban development’.
Mr McCaughey added current development limits could only be approved in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
He continued if the plans for the 54 new homes were approved, it would ‘create a very, very undesirable precedent’ for housing being built outside the city limits.
He said an approval would also reduce the likelihood of new developments being built on lands already zoned for housing, adding that zoned land for 10,000 new homes was currently available within the city, and that some of those lands already had planning approval.
“Planners are also mindful of the social housing need, particularly on the west bank, however, we do believe it is of significant weight to justify such a significant departure from the development plan,” he said.
He continued that an application for 800 new social houses had been refused in 2009 as it had been outside the current development limits.
Mr McCaughey also told the meeting that there were also concerns over the application in regards to the size of gardens and road.
Councillors voted to grant approval.
A council spokesperson said there was ‘no question’ of any appeal being lodged against the approval, given that the planning officers who made the recommendation to refuse were council officers.
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