Environment Minister Alex Attwood has refused planning permission for a mixed use development on the site of Andrews Mill at Percy Street in Belfast.

The application, which proposed 395 apartments along with retail and office uses and a nursing home and crèche, has been the subject of significant interest from within the local community.

Commenting on his decision, Alex Attwood said: "I have given very careful consideration to this proposal, interrogating all the issues and have concluded that its excessive scale would be detrimental to the character of the surrounding area.

-- Advertisement --

"My concerns regarding the proposal are shared with many from within the local community. I am also aware that, in planning policy terms, the proposed development is not considered to be an acceptable replacement for the existing and long established industrial use on the site.

"Having carefully considered these matters and after taking account of the views and concerns of the local community I have decided to refuse planning permission.

"This is a major application known as an Article 31 application. There are many of these in the Planning system and I promised I would be decisive in resolving the majority of them in the next few months and this decision further demonstrates that."

(MM/GK)