13 Park Road, Belfast

13 Park Road, Belfast

Consultations
Belfast based serviced apartment provider brings forward proposals for the former Masonic hall at 13 Park Road, Ormeau, Belfast. Project 50 Group is a Belfast based company specialising in the provision of serviced apartments with this proposal, should it go ahead, being their third location in Belfast. The proposal will see the retention, refurbishment and change of use of the building into 11 serviced apartments with car parking to the front of the building and landscaped open space to the rear. Before taking the proposal further we would very much like to hear the views of the community in the vicinity of the proposal. PROPOSED-GROUND-FLOOR-PLAN.pdf Elevations-2.pdf 1ST-Floor-Context-drawing.pdf Elevations.pdf PROPOSED-SITE-LAYOUT.pdf EXISTING-SURVEY-PLANS.pdf PROPOSED-FIRST-FLOOR-PLAN.pdf Park-Road-ConsultationDownload  Please look over the information on this webpage and send your comments to admin@pragmaplanning.com or fill in a feedback questionnaire. 
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Technology and Planning

Technology and Planning

Case studies, Featured
An article in the August edition of The Planner carried short articles about various technologies currently utilised by the planning profession which have the potential to offer greater advantages to those involved in planning.  Some of those articles are summarised below. VIRTUAL REALITY - VR has great potential and multiple applications for planning and planners and is capable of transforming the way built environments are designed and engaged with by planners, elected representatives and the public.  Its immersive experience allows a more complete interaction with interventions in the built environment and can highlight the parts of a proposal for instance that will be 'invisible' from the public domain.  It is likely to be of greatest impact to those not from a built environment profession who may otherwise struggle to read…
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New data hubs proposed for Lucan site

New data hubs proposed for Lucan site

Case studies, Featured
American data centre operator EdgeConnex has submitted plans to South Dublin County Council to allow it to build two more data centres at its existing site in Lucan, Dublin. The latest data centre proposal for the city highlights a growing debate between those who believe the facilities are a welcome addition to Ireland's burgeoning tech sector and understand the environmental benefits from the centres and those who highlight the environmental impact because of the large electricity usage. Virginia-based EdgeConnex concentrates on hosting and delivering digital content as close to its end users as possible and has built 25 data centres around the world since 2013, mainly in the US, and it counts Virgin Media and Comcast, as well as Irish industry body Host in Ireland, among its clients and partners.
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UK Chancellor officially calls for Derry City Region Deal

UK Chancellor officially calls for Derry City Region Deal

Case studies, Featured
The Chancellor formally invited a bid in a move welcomed by Derry City and Strabane District Council. Over the past year the local authority and its partners have done a lot of preparatory work on the business case for a deal.  Chief executive John Kelpie has said: “We have developed a robust, evidence-based Statement of Intent for a city deal based on the currently adopted city and district’s strategic growth plan.” That plan highlighted the development of skills and education with a key focus on the expansion of the Magee Campus of the Ulster University and the integrated development of the North West Regional College.  Also proposed were the development of existing and proposed innovation centres for medicine, cognitive analytics and advanced manufacturing as well as the delivery of new…
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Nambarrie Tea building bought by Hotellier

Nambarrie Tea building bought by Hotellier

Case studies, Featured
The Nambarrie Tea building in Waring Street in the Cathedral Quarter is believed to have attracted interest from at least four hotel companies before the successful bid. Pragma negotiated planning permission through a difficult planning process in 2013 and in particular rebutted successfully the view put forward by objectors that apartments would not be suitable for the site.  Objectors claimed that the building was an important reminder of Belfast's tea trade, however documents discovered by Pragma proved that assertion to be unfounded with the building being a recent addition after the Belfast blitz and the previous use on the site being unconnected to the tea trade. Assertions that the proposal would be out of character also proved to be unfounded and the design by Povall Worthington was accepted and deemed…
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Outcry over historic ceiling demolition ‘influenced council decision’

Outcry over historic ceiling demolition ‘influenced council decision’

Case studies, Featured
An Article in The Planner (details below) carries the planning appeal decision in relation to an appeal by a developer over a decision by Bristol City Council to refuse to grant planning permission. The Planner article is here. The appeal concerned a 400-year old townhouse in Bristol’s historic centre, which was last used as a bar with offices and flats above.  The owner of the building applied to the council for permission to convert the building's upper floors to form four student accommodation units, retaining the bar use below.  Part of the upper floors contained an ornate Jacobean pendant ceiling. After the application was submitted, Bristol’s conservation advisory panel applied to Historic England for the building to be spot-listed in order to preserve the  Jacobean ceiling, however, the day before it was…
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