Planning permission granted for luxury Portrush hotel and spa
Planning permission for a luxury hotel, spa and golf lodge overlooking Royal Portrush Golf Club has been approved.
A planning officer told the council the project would lead to the creation of 44 jobs in the area and generate between £8.7m to £9.8m for the north coast economy each season.
The development will consist of a three-storey main lodge building with reception, dining and bar areas, golf bag store and seven guest accommodation suites. It will also include guest accommodation to the rear of the main lodge, consisting of 20 further suites.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council approved the proposal on Wednesday, June 23.
Letters of support for the new application were received from the Ireland Golf Tour Operator Association, Bushmills Trust, DUP MPs — Ian Paisley and Gregory Campbell and 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke.
Five letters objecting to the hotel development were received.
After the original plans were rejected in 2018 on the back of “community feedback”, North Coast Ventures Limited said it accepted its proposals “were not appropriate”, adding: “We have listened to the local community and the feedback we have received during the consultation process.
“We still firmly believe that the north coast is an area which needs higher quality accommodation and a greater number of hotel rooms.”
In his letter of support, Darren Clarke said: “There is a great need for five-star accommodation in the area to satisfy the requirements of the high-end US golfers, who at present often return to Belfast rather than staying in the north Coast .”
The Dunluce Lodge, funded by Texas-based ARC, will be built on a 10-acre site between the Ballymacrea Road and Dunluce Road.
Developers will hope to have the venture completed in advance of The Open making a rumoured return to Royal Portrush Golf Club in 2025.
The 2019 staging of the championship on the club’s Dunluce Links was one of the most successful Opens on record and even boasted a home winner in Offaly’s Shane Lowry.
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