The council received 47 third-party representations, from 26 persons, all of which objected to the scheme
Google Street View of the Stormont Hotel
Sinn Féin have pushed through plans in East Belfast to convert the Stormont Hotel site into a huge care home and assisted living complex, despite major opposition from local residents and elected representatives.
On two knife-edge votes at City Hall on Tuesday evening, the Belfast City Council Planning Committee approved two planning applications concerning the historic hotel, despite local concerns about parking, and local councillors concerns about the potential damage to tourism in East Belfast.
The first application involves the change of use from hotel, conference centre and offices to a 97-bed care home and 1,559 square metre diagnostic medical facility, with associated access, car parking, landscaping and open space. The site is the still functioning 105 bed Stormont Hotel, 587 Upper Newtownards Road.
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The second application involves outline planning permission for independent living units and up to 62 assisted living units, as well as associated internal access roads, communal open space, revised access and car parking, and landscaping. The plan involves the demolition of a host of dwellings at Castleview Road and Summerhill Parade.
The applicant for both is Summerhill Retirement Developments Ltd, Victoria House, Gloucester Street, Belfast.
The existing hotel employs approximately 50 staff, 35 full-time and 15 part-time, equating to around 43 full-time equivalent roles, across a range of positions. Summerhill says the proposed care home and medical facility would generate 100 to 120 jobs during construction over a one to two year period, and 65 to 70 full time staff for the care home.
Planning officials at Belfast City Council recommended both applications for approval. However, the council’s tourism team said: “Stormont Hotel is the only purpose built hotel in this wider area of East Belfast over 100 rooms and if lost will result in no significant hotel in the area to accommodate visitors both leisure visitors, business visitors including conference delegates.”
They added: “The recent loss of Park Avenue Hotel has resulted in displacement to Stormont hotel of regular business visitors.” The council tourism team said the application would “have an adverse impact on tourism.”
The council received 47 third-party representations, from 26 persons, all of which objected to the scheme. Some of the objections relate to the application for outline planning permission on the adjacent land. None of the statutory consultees objected.
Resident objectors fear that parking from the new complex will overflow onto the surrounding streets, blocking residential access. They say living beside a large care home and sheltered housing will affect existing property values and will raise the prospect of antisocial behaviour.
They have raised issues of over-shadowing, privacy, and loss of light. Objectors said they “strongly” opposed the demolition of good and affordable semidetached family homes, almost all of which are occupied by families at present.
Council officials state in the planning report: “The proposed care home element will take up most of the building. Policy states that permission will be granted for specialist residential accommodation, including care-related facilities, subject to two criteria: a) a community need is demonstrated via the submission of a statement of specialist housing need; and b) the proposal delivers convenient access to relevant local services and facilities, including local shops, public transport routes and health facilities.
“The applicant has submitted a statement of housing need which addresses the need for a care home in this area. This states that Northern Ireland is experiencing demographic shifts in terms of an ageing society and uses statistics from the NIHE to back this up.
“The justification and amplification of policy also supports the need for more care home bed spaces. This states that 820 additional bed spaces in residential care homes will be required during the plan period.”
A representative for the applicant told the committee: “Retirement living has become a highly sought after housing requirement across the city, not least in this part of Belfast. East Belfast has a very high level of population over the age of 65, much higher than the average across the rest of the city.”
DUP Alderman for Ormiston James Lawlor proposed the committee refuse the hotel application. He said: “I don’t believe the material considerations that (officers) outlined outweigh the application’s conflict with the policy, as this clearly represents the loss of a viable tourism facility in East Belfast.”
Hedley Abernethy, Deputy Lord Mayor and Alliance Councillor for Ormiston, told the committee: “Tourism output for East Belfast needs to be improved, and indeed can be. It is depressing seeing tourist buses going up to the Stormont estate, and turning, and going back to the Titanic Quarter while completely avoiding the rest of East Belfast.
“So we need to do what we can to improve the tourism output for the area. And part of that is simply having good hotel accommodation, which we are painfully short of.”
A vote on the DUP proposal to refuse the hotel application had nine elected representatives in favour from the DUP, Alliance, and the UUP, to nine against from Sinn Féin and the former Alliance Councillor for Lisnasharragh, now an Independent, Eric Hanvey.
As a result of the numbers, the Chair of the Planning Committee, Sinn Féin Councillor Ryan Murphy, had the casting vote, and went against the DUP proposal. The recommendation from officers to grant planning permission for the hotel application was then approved.
On the second application, for outline planning permission for independent living units at the neighbouring site, a proposal was made to go with the council officer recommendation to grant permission, and again the vote was split at nine to nine. The Chair, Councillor Murphy, once again had the casting vote, and decided to approve the application.
The Planning Committee has delegated authority with decisions, which means they do not have to go to the full council for ratification, unlike decisions from other committees. The minutes of the Planning Committee however do still require ratification at the full council. Both application decisions could face appeal at the Planning Appeals Commission.
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