Belfast city centre apartment block recommended despite Royal Mail concerns

A major new set of city centre apartment blocks reaching 19 storeys have been recommended to Belfast Council, despite concerns from Royal Mail.

At the upcoming Belfast City Council Planning Committee meeting (December 19) elected members will be recommended by planning officers to approve a plan to demolish an existing multi-storey car park for the erection of four rental apartment blocks fitting 298 units, from seven to 19 storeys, at 21-29 Corporation Street and 18-24 Tomb Street, Belfast.

The plan, by ES Corporation Street Ltd, Cookstown, involves a ground floor commercial unit, car/cycle parking provision along with associated development.

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The site extends from Corporation Street along its western boundary to Tomb Street along its eastern boundary. An existing five storey government office block is located to the immediate north of the site, and a vacant plot of land and an existing nightclub to the immediate south of the site.

Within the wider area there are a mix of uses including Royal Mail sorting office on Tomb Street, a residential facility on Corporation St/Waring St/Tomb St along with residential, commercial and business uses.

The application site comprises an existing multi-storey car park accessed from Tomb Street, a surface level car park, and a vacant area of land which is currently overgrown. The 27 storey Obel Tower apartment building, once the tallest building in Belfast, is also nearby.

The council report states two communications listing objections to the plan came from Royal Mail, the first on September 27th last year. It lists objections by the Royal Mail, who insisted that “the applicant should provide noise mitigation, and existing businesses should not be unduly affected by a new noise-sensitive use”.

The postal service said “noise from existing Royal Mail use is likely to affect residential amenity, and mitigation measures are essential”.

Royal Mail stated last year that noise impacts on the proposed development, which would have bedrooms and windows overlooking the postal HQ, had not been appropriately tested. The service demanded “a noise survey should be updated to capture early morning movements to/from the Royal Mail site, (and a) detailed scheme of noise mitigation measures”.

It added “the construction management plan should be updated to confirm no impact on Royal Mail.”

This month Royal Mail sent another communication to the council. The council report states: “The updated noise impact assessment from 31/10/22 confirms impact of Royal Mail’s existing operation on the proposed development and provides proposed mitigations to deal with the noise impact. Royal Mail asks that if the planning permission is recommended for approval the planning conditions are recommended to protect future occupiers to avoid any future complaints and protect Royal Mail operations.”

The report states Royal Mail is asking that “noise insulation measures for the development (is) submitted and approved in writing by the council, (and) submission of noise mitigation measures, as set out in the noise impact assessment, should be installed and agreed in writing with the council and be implemented and permanently retained thereafter.”

The council report states: “Communal and private amenity space solely for the use of residents is provided throughout the development at a number of locations including ground floor residential lounges, raised amenity space in the internal courtyard, rooftop terraces and private balconies.

“Balconies are provided for 123 of the 298 apartments. Overall an average of 10 sqm of amenity provision per apartment has been proposed which accords with the lower limit (10 and 30 sqm) as recommended. The level of amenity provision is considered satisfactory for an inner city location and is commensurate with other recent development proposals.”

It states: “Environmental Health recommends a condition securing the installation of acoustic barriers around the 9th and 11th Floor roof terraces. These barriers consist of a 0.7metre high parapet wall and a 1.2 metre glazed acoustic barrier. These measures are required to mitigate external noise which is predicted to exceed the World Health Organisation limits. A condition is recommended requiring details of the acoustic barriers to be submitted for approval prior to commencement of the development.”

It adds: “The height, scale and massing of the proposed development has been assessed above and it is considered that the proposed development satisfactorily relates to the immediate context and the urban structure of the city. In conclusion it is considered that on balance the proposed development does not conflict with policy.”

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