Local construction firms may have to wait a little longer for work as plans to build hundreds of homes at Knock Golf Club in east Belfast has proved not be "a done deal".

Senior planning officials originally revealed that the controversial bid to build around 250 homes at the Dundonald site was approved after a series of amendments, even though it overturned five planning guidelines.

However, Planning Service officials who appeared before the Stormont Assembly's Environment Committee have now conceded that the plan will not get the final go-ahead unless all the conditions are met.

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The planners said policy allowed houses to be built in the green landscape wedge if there were social benefits.

Social benefits outlined in the planning application include social housing, a community centre in what is now the clubhouse, the early return of leased land to the Ulster Hospital and a golf course.

But residents have expressed fears over the lack of firm commitment on many of these benefits, and the Ulster Hospital has said it is no longer interested in the deal.

The planners insisted there was nothing unusual about the way the application had gone from refusal to approval - even though the original case officer is said to have noted his objection to the scheme.

(BMcC/GK)