St John’s Church, Ballycarry, County Antrim
A proposal of application notice has been lodged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for a new housing development in a historic village outside Larne.
The proposed development for 65 new homes is on land to the west of St John’s Church, a listed building and historic graveyard, at Main Bentra Road, Ballycarry,
The application for the 3.9 hectare site has been submitted by an agent on behalf of Alan Topping, Millbrook.
A community consultation took place at Ballycarry Community Centre on Thursday afternoon.
A community consultation was held at Barrycarry Community Centre
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, one concerned resident claimed the proposed housing development of detached and semi-detached properties is “not in keeping with local heritage”.
St John’s Church, a grade B1 listed building, is located to the east of the site and Templecorran cemetery to the west with a late 16th/early 17th century bawn to the south.
A local historian said that although he supports development in general, he was “very much against this one”.
Another local resident said: “It is a rural rustic location known for its heritage. This would be a housing development on a hill.”
Concern over road safety and road infrastructure in the area was also highlighted especially access and egress at Main Bentra Road.
A Main Bentra Road resident stated: “I am very much against it. I live more or less opposite where the estate is going to be. There is no infrastructure for that. It is bad enough now.”
Proposed site for housing development to the west of St John’s Church, Ballycarry
Johann Muldoon, managing director, Manor Architects, said the consultation event was being held to display concept plans for the development. She indicated that proposed detached and semi-detached houses are planned to “satisfy needs in the local community”.
Responding to local concerns over publicity for the event, Johann said: “This is the biggest turn out we have had at a public event in the last three years.”
“The (site) owner is as keen as possible to keep the community on side and try to address the desires of the community.”
A planning application for 21 new homes on the site was approved by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Planning Committee in December 2021.
Principal planning officer Gary McGuinness said at the time there would be “no negative impact on St John’s Church, a listed building”.
However, an email from NI Monuments urged hedging boundaries to be retained. The correspondence suggested that “outstanding concerns” about Templecorran seem to have been “dismissed by council without being resolved”.