Huge Ards home plan
By Iain Gray
PLANS for the first part of a massive Newtownards housing development comprising more than 600 homes have been filed.
Ballyreagh Village is to be built in countryside to the east of the town’s Bowtown estate, and is the brainchild of property developers Fraser Homes.
Phase one of the project, consisting of 93 homes, is now with planners and is set to see a massive overhaul of land between Ballyreagh Road and Bowtown Road.
Plans were published this month, so it’ll likely be some time before the scheme comes before Ards and North Down Council’s Planning Committee for approval.
But NI Water has already cleared it for construction – something of an unusual move, as the body frequently opposes large developments in this area due to sewerage system capacity worries.
In this case, officials say that the sewer system can easily absorb extra demand from 93 new homes.
According to documents filed by Fraser Homes and planning consultants Pragma, more than half of the houses in phase one will be three-bedroom, while more than a quarter are two-bedroom and the remainder are four-bedroom properties.
That includes a large apartment building as well as 69 detached or semi-detached houses.
Architects say they’ve chosen designs ‘derived from the best features of the local vernacular architecture of Newtownards in its Georgian and Victorian periods’, combining a simple form with ‘vertical emphasis using facing brick and slate roofs and details picked out in sandstone’.
The phase will demolish part of the countryside route of Ballyreagh Road and construct a new roads network within the development, along with part of a greenway pedestrian and cycle route.
Once the entire 600-plus homes are built, state documents filed with the plans, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) is to build a bypass running between Portaferry Road and Bowtown Road.
The project follows on from a public consultation on the issue two years ago.
Back then, a small number of locals raised concerns about the impact on traffic congestion on main roads in the area, as well as the demand more than 600 homes could put on primary school places.
In documents filed with the plans, consultants acting on behalf of Fraser Homes state that the DfI thinks nearby roads can handle the 93 homes from phase one; they also point out that school places and entrance requirements aren’t something property developers have the power to influence.
But the consultants did state they’d referred public demands for a ring road in the area back to DfI officials and a local MLA.
Further sections of Ballyreagh Village will see more homes built to the north of the phase one construction site.
Strangford MP Jim Shannon has welcomed the news that the next stage of housing development at Ballyreagh Road is to commence.
“This is a large application and I am aware that infrastructure can be an issue and yet I have seen plans to enhance the infrastructure for this area,” he said.
“This will be good news for local schools Abbey Primary and Castle Gardens Primary as this brings new families and I do believe that these additional families will bring a need for a GP surgery as well as play area amongst others and this is something that I will be following up on.
“Newtownards is a wonderful place to live and these beautiful new homes will solidify the allure of good homes in a lovely area, with plenty of amenities for a growing family,” added Mr Shannon.
