NEWCASTLE SDLP Councillor Carmel O’Boyle and Laura Devlin, Constituency Manager for Seán Rogers MLA, attended a meeting with Senior Planners in Downpatrick to discuss the current application from Oaklee Housing Association for a social housing scheme at Donard Street, Newcastle.
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Cllr Carmel O’Boyle, Laura Devlin, Constituency Manager for Seán Rogers MLA, with Seán Rogers MLA and Anne Callen, local resident outside the forner SERC site in Newcastle that Oaklee Housing Association are seeking to turn into social housing.[/caption]
Councillor O’Boyle said: “When Roads Service were first consulted about this application they submitted a roads report to planners that was over six years old and did not reflect the present road configuration at the Donard Street end of Newcastle.
“When this was challenged and a delegation met with Minister Attwood, he ordered that a new report should be provided. Since this meeting, Roads Service have found another report that was apparently written a year ago.
“Why this report was not submitted in the first instance remains a matter of conjecture, and I will certainly be asking for an explanation for this. In the meantime, the planning service intend to revisit Oaklee’s planning application in the light of this newer information, albeit a year old this time. This application raises more questions than answers and we are a long way off drawing this matter to a conclusion.”
Laura Devlin added: “On behalf of Seán Rogers MLA, I repeated to the Planning Service the complaints that we had received in the office and my belief that housing of this scale in a business area of the town was totally unsuitable.
“We in the SDLP remain totally opposed to development in this area of this scale and are pleased that Planning Service are going to discuss the application again.“
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