A planning application has been lodged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for almost 200 new homes in Larne.
The new development in the Ballyboley Road area will be adjacent to the Lindara development and Blackthorn Rise, if it is given the go-ahead.
It will be comprised of 189 dwellings,47 detached, 120 semi-detached, four maisonettes and 18 apartments.
The application includes plans for a “neighbourhood centre” to include a filling station, retail unit, hot food/cafe as well as a children’s play area, open space, landscaping and parking.
In addition, plans include road improvements at Donaghy’s Lane / Antiville Road.
Earlier this year, planning permission was approved for 19 new houses for a site at Ballyhampton Road also in the Larne west area.
In response, East Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA John Stewart called for a moratorium on house building in the Ballyhampton area and sent an objection letter to this application on the grounds of “inadequate roads infrastructure”.
He noted that planners have “conditioned house building out the Ballyboley Road with the signalisation of the Antiville Road / Donaghy’s Lane junction”.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has been seeking a meeting with Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon over the completion of the Ballyloran link road.
However, a letter received from the Infrastructure Minister stated the construction of the Larne West distributor road is the “responsibility of the developers of the adjacent lands” and that the “planning approval grant for further housing in this area is conditioned to provide additional transportation infrastructure”.
“These road improvements including Donaghy’s Lane and Antiville Road will assist traffic movements and progression in this area,” the letter stated.
It is understood that as many as 600 new homes are planned in the Larne West area.