A THREE-storey office complex has been given the go-ahead on the site of the former PSNI station in Glengormley, despite once being earmarked for social housing.
It is part of a £7m investment in the economic development of Antrim and Newtownabbey and was approved at a meeting of the council’s Planning Committee on Monday evening.
The station, which has been empty since June 2012, was closed due to a lack of use and had been costing £160,000 a year to run.
Sinn Féin had campaigned for social housing on the site from 2014 before Antrim and Newtownabbey Council acquired the site from the Housing Executive.
Glengormley Sinn Féin councillor Michael Goodman said the next-best option was to ensure the site would be of benefit to the local community.
"We firmly believe that social housing would have been a better option given the crisis in housing in North Belfast," he said. "Sinn Féin have made clear that this development proposal needs to benefit the community in Glengormley by incorporating social enterprise and possible employment training.
"We also need youth and community facilities and this was an opportunity for council to support those aspirations but inexplicably they didn't do so. We intend to press for these facilities in the area."
At Monday's meeting, two letters of objection were received from a neighbouring resident expressing concern over parking and congestion in the area and potential loss of privacy.
Planning officer Kieran O’Connell told the committee the proposed new office accommodation at at Glenwell Road is considered to be “acceptable in terms of height, scale and mass without impacting on the character of the area”. He said there are no road safety, access or parking concerns.
The new office/workspace hub is one of the elements of a £17.4m regeneration scheme for Glengormley which is funded by the UK Levelling Up Fund, Department for Communities and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
Other elements of the regeneration include new shop front façades on buildings from Creative Tiles to the Movie House; a new right turning lane into Glenwell Road; Farmley car park and private road redesign and improvements to include a one-way system through Farmley Road, exiting at the Glenwell Road.
An extensive public realm scheme of environmental improvements from Glenwell Road, extending beyond the car wash site at the junction of Antrim Road and Ballyclare Road, is also in the pipeline.
