Apart-hotel plans withdrawn over wastewater concerns
Plans for a £23m apart-hotel development in south Belfast have been shelved after city planners decided that there were insufficient facilities in the area for the treatment of wastewater.
The 87-bedroom development, proposed by Paddy Kearney’s Kilmona Property, was to be situated at Apollo Road and offer 26 serviced apartments, 14 business studios and 10 live/work studios.
Kilmona already owns the Ten Square hotel in the centre of Belfast, and the new development would have borne similar branding. A second suburban apart-hotel development proposed for Stockman’s Way and named Ten Square West is still to go ahead.
Initially, Kilmona had offered to build its own wastewater treatment facilities to alleviate the planners’ concerns, but officials said there was little evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of such a project and that, at any rate, it would require substantial alteration to the existing apart-hotel plans. For that reason, they indicated that Kilmona would need to withdraw the existing plans and submit a fresh proposal.
Kilmona, which also owns The Chimney Corner and Loughshore hotels in Belfast has now withdrawn its application for planning permission at Apollo Road.
Earlier this year, NI Water issued a stark warning over wastewater treatment provision here, saying that by 2027, we are likely to be at full capacity. The provider says that it will need £2.5bn to address the lack of infrastructure.
