Golf club opposes new housing plan

Golf club opposes new housing plan

22 January 2025

PLANS for the biggest ever housing development proposed for Downpatrick could put the future viability of the town’s golf club at significant risk, it has been claimed.

The £250m investment will result in the construction of 1,100 homes on a huge 128-acre site, which is zoned for new housing, stretching from the Saul Road across to the Ballyhornan Road.

A formal planning application is due to be lodged within weeks, but St Patrick’s Golf Club officials are seeking a private site meeting with the developer and consultant architects to examine the multi-million pound proposal in detail.

The club says it cannot support the development as it currently stands and will strongly object if there is not a major revision of the layout, pointing to concerns about the impact on the seventh hole.

Officials say as a close neighbour which will be directly affected by the proposal, they wish to advise those behind the scheme of their very real concerns about the “major detrimental impact” the plan will have.

They say the layout currently envisaged “could put the future viability of the golf course at significant risk”.

A substantial area of the golf course is located on lands directly between Drumreagh Park in the Drumlins and a considerable area of the proposed development, with officials concerned about the “severe impact” the new homes plan would have on the seventh hole.

In a letter to the scheme’s consultant architects, club secretary Joe Torney said the club, which will celebrates its centenary in 2029, considered itself an important sports facility and focal part of the social and tourist fabric of Downpatrick and the extended Lecale area. 

“Naturally crafted out of the historic drumlins, St Patricks Golf Club is a classic and challenging 18-hole parkland course,” the letter continues.

“The elevated siting of the tee box to the seventh hole is a course feature and boasts spectacular views of the Mourne mountains, Strangford Lough and the Isle of Man.”

But Mr Torney said the seventh hole in particular that would be severely impacted by the development.

He said the hole would become “unusable” unless there was a significant revision of the present proposals, explaining that the club was “very restricted and limited” in possible options to rearrange the layout of the course. 

“In any event, there would be considerable expense associated with any in-depth examination of possible layout options with no guarantee that a feasible and acceptable alternative could be identified that would also be financially viable,” Mr Torney continued.

He said that having reviewed the proposed development as it presently stands, St Patrick’s Golf Club could not support it, confirming that in the absence of a major revision to the proposed layout, the club would “strongly object” to any related planning application and granting of planning permission. 

“The club fully understands and appreciates that the population of Downpatrick is growing and there is a clear need for additional residential development in the area,” he said.

“Indeed, we recognise that it is in our longer-term interests to ensure that this development proceeds at some future stage.”

Mr Torney has extended an invitation to the developers and their consultant architects to meet on a confidential basis and to visit the seventh hole with the club’s Executive Officers to examine the proposals in detail.

He said the request was to ensure there was a “full appreciation of our respective requirements” and that there were no misunderstandings going forward and ahead of the submission of any related planning application. 

A neighbourhood centre, including retail and community facilities, is included within the proposal and land for a new primary school has also been allocated, but it will only be developed subject to need and discussions with the Department of Education and Education Authority.

A key part of the £250m development plan is the construction of a new road linking the Saul and Ballyhornan roads. The link is part of the so-called eastern distributor road which is included in the district’s area plan.

Newry, Mourne and Down Council has previously backed the construction of the new road and the development of new homes either side of it.