Downpatrick is soon to get a new 51-bed hotel.
Plans are currently being considered by the Newry Mourne and Down District Council Planning Section for a hotel sited on the grounds of the former Abbey Lodge Hotel on the Belfast Road just half a mile outside Downpatrick.
Full planning permission is being sought for the construction of a new 51 bedroom hotel to include conference facilities, a function suite with a bar and restaurant, a spa and gym, swimming pool with a changing facilities, and treatment rooms.
The applicant, Inch Abbey Holdings. Ltd,, is now pressing ahead for full approval following an interim application for a Proposal of Application Notice and this is considered a major planning application by planning department standards.
Located in a rural area on the Belfast Road, known as a Protected Route, the site is also close to significant archaeological sites such as Inch Abbey and is within an Area of Significant Archaeological Potential, just across the River Quoile from Down Cathedral and the Mound of Down. The hotel site is adjacent to the Down Business Park to the north. The access to the hotel will be through an entrance on the Inch Abbey Road. The site is relatively flat so will make construction all the more straight forward. Part o the new building is a three storey section but mostly it is single storey.
Downpatrick Councillor Dermot Curran said: “I welcome this development and it is very much long overdue. Accommodation is badly needed in Down District and especially in Downpatrick.
“This initiative will create jobs in our area and also provide a very useful base for local businesses. A 51-bed hotel is certainly a very good boost to our lo al tourism industry. It is absolutely critical if we are to improve the local economy that we create over night stays and improve spend in the area.”
The initial application was advertised in the local press in April 2018 and work has been ongoing behind the scenes to bring this project forward. The site development will have to comply with a number of planning policies for building in the countryside under the Ards and Down Area Plan.
The site too is linked to the Strangford Lough RAMSAR and Special Areas of Conservations and will be subject to screening going forward.
It is a key requirement that the development proceeds recognising the the need for tourism infrastructure in the area but seeking to conserve and protect the built heritage and natural environment. Sustainable development is key to moving forward.
This new hotel is in fact a replacement for the previous hotel which fell into disrepair following vandalism on the site in 2008 when the old hotel building was eventually demolished.
The Planning Department is recommending approval of the planning application.
