By Joe McCann
A PROPOSAL to build a new wastewater pumping station on green space in the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald has passed planning approval despite Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) holding the debate before residents had time to put in objections.
Residents had little time to object as many only received letters halfway through last week telling them they could make their objections known by Friday, August 7. However, the council had already rescheduled the planning committee meeting to Monday, August 3, meaning residents did not get a chance to air their views before the decision.
Ken Groves, who grew up on the estate and has been campaigning against the proposals, said residents were still largely unaware of the plans.
He previously spoke to the Chronicle in June 2025 to express concerns that the plans had been ‘railroaded’ through the council after residents similarly received communication late and had little time to object.
The pumping station is to be built on council-owned land in a designated community recreational space opposite Brooklands Drive in the estate, which has around 2,400 homes. At Monday night’s meeting the proposals passed by a vote of six to two.
Plans include underground sewers and several hundred metres of piping, a control centre kiosk, telemetry and lighting columns.
Mr Groves, who attended the planning committee meeting on August 3, said the site at Ballybeen would break the council’s rules on building on recreational ground.
He said the council’s rules stipulate projects can only be built on recreational ground if there is overwhelming proof they would benefit the community.
Mr Groves said residents were not opposed to the wastewater infrastructure but questioned the selection of Ballybeen when other sites that would not involve removing community open space had been disregarded.
He said: “The council’s policy says you cannot build on this land unless there’s substantial benefit to the local community.
“There is a problem with the wastewater infrastructure in sites in Dundonald such as Brooklands Crescent but that doesn’t actually justify their site selection, that’s not a benefit, that’s a mitigation.”
Mr Groves added that planners paid no heed to the fact that the one-way street at Brooklands Drive was used by the vast majority of pupils and parents dropping off and picking up their children at nearby Brooklands Primary School. He said the area was also affected by flooding, which planners had not considered.
“That area is chock-a-block,” he said. “ When I met with them it was clear when I mentioned this, that they hadn’t a clue that this was such a busy entrance. There’s 600 kids that go to the school and nursery who use that entrance, plus staff yet NI Water also said at the planning meeting they still don’t have a traffic management plan in place for the project.”
He continued: “There’s also flooding, right where the station is going to be. There’s local knowledge of flooding that’s been there for years and years and none of that was considered.
“When you take in the flooding, when you take in the use by kids, the dog paddock right beside it, the paths, it’s going to take 12 to 15 months to build and it’s going to include 290 meters of pipes. It’s beside the football pitches, it will be a massive development.”
Mr Groves said the majority of residents remain unaware of the plans.
“They [the residents] still don’t know anything at all about what’s going on and it’s going to come as a massive shock to parents when they realise that they’re going to bring lorries through on Brooklands Road.”
A spokeswoman for Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council said:The Council do not respond to live planning applications. The information requested was part of the Council’s Planning Committee deliberations in determining this planning application and there is an audio recording available online.”
