Northern Ireland round-up: Green light for capital aquarium and contentious city centre redevelopment; Carrickfergus playing fields proposal lodged

Green light for capital aquarium and contentious Belfast city centre redevelopment

Revised outline proposals for most of the controversial Tribeca redevelopment in central Belfast finally gained approval this week after a marathon three-hour session of the capital’s planning committee. Plans for an aquarium were also considered.

The Planner

MP intervenes over County Antrim solar farm 

DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr has intervened over a proposed solar farm earmarked for land east of the villages of Kells and Connor, which straddles the boundary between Mid and East Antrim and Antrim and Newtownabbey borough councils.

The Planner

Solar and wind set to be cheaper options for power generation by 2040

New solar and wind plants in the UK built in the next 20 years will be much cheaper than the government previously forecast.

The Planner

It’s a wrap for Game of Thrones studio tour attraction

Linen Mill Studios just outside Banbridge has received the go-ahead from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council for a Game of Thrones studio tour attraction, which is expected to draw up to 600,000 visitors a year.

BBC News

Cookstown motocross row revs up

Residents from the rural area around Cookstown in south Tyrone are complaining that their tranquillity is being destroyed by noise from a privately owned motocross track close to an area of outstanding natural beauty which, they say, was constructed and has been operating for over a year without planning permission. Mid Ulster District Council has put enforcement action on hold while it considers a retrospective planning application for the scheme.

Belfast Telegraph

Former Ulster TV office wrangle

Campaigners who say they wish to preserve the history of Ulster TV are calling for action to prevent its former Havelock House home on Ormeau Road, Belfast, from being demolished and turned into flats.

Belfast Telegraph

Carrickfergus playing fields proposal

A planning application has been lodged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for a new synthetic sports pitch at Carrickfergus Grammar School as part of a scheme that will also involve floodlighting, a toilet block and car parking at the North Road school.

Belfast Live

Go-ahead for Maghera filling station

Proposals for an eight-pump filling station, café, shop and parking for 60 vehicles on a vacant and underdeveloped site in Maghera have been approved.

Insider Media

Lake deterioration

Only one of Northern Ireland’s 21 larger lakes has “good” water quality, according to a report highlighting a deterioration in the water quality in the province’s lakes since surveys in 2015 and 2018.

Northern Ireland Executive

PAC sends A5 dual carriageway inquiry report to DfI

The Planning Appeals Commission’s report on the public local inquiry into the environmental statement addendum 2019 and related matters to do with the A5 dual carriageway scheme has been completed and sent to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI).

Planning Appeals Commission

Record green power

Over the 12-month period July 2019 to June 2020, nearly 48 per cent of total electricity demand in Northern Ireland was generated from renewable sources, chiefly wind farms in the province. This represents an increase of 3.6 percentage points on the previous 12-month period (July 2018 to June 2019) and is the highest rolling 12-month proportion on record, according to latest official figures.

Northern Ireland Executive