A new community hub building is to be built at Paisley Park Sportsplex in West Belfast.
At the Belfast City Council Planning Committee this week, elected members approved the erection of a new two storey, split level community hub building, including changing rooms, as well as a single modular changing room building, alongside associated car parking, paths and landscape site-works.
The location is at Paisley Park Sportsplex, West Circular Road, and the application is by Paisley Park via agents the Boyd Partnership. Council officers recommended the proposal for approval to elected representatives.
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The existing Paisley Park site contains existing football pitches, one senior grass pitch and one synthetic pitch, with a clubhouse for each sporting organisation including football, boxing, and bowling clubs. The site also has a bowling green and pavilion building running track to the main grass pitch.
Two new initiatives will run within the new community hub. The first is “Our Children and Young People” which the council says will provide “a positive environment for those most vulnerable by developing and promoting mental health and wellbeing projects via sport.” The second initiative will be called “Our Safe Community” which the council says will “promote community participation and respect through using codesign principles at every stage of its activity development.”
The council planning report states: “The proposal includes a range of community and leisure uses within the new community hub. Policy states that planning permission will be granted for the provision of new and improved community infrastructure at appropriate and accessible locations within the urban area, subject to consideration of the nature and location of any proposals.
“The scheme includes an upgrade of the existing sportsplex which represents a number of football, bowling and boxing clubs and the building of a community hub. The scheme is considered to meet the policy requirement in that a need has been established to improve and extend the community facility in this location.”
It adds: “All buildings will be designed to meet energy efficiency standards to promote energy conservation/efficiency sustainability and ease of maintenance. These include triple glazed windows, timber frame construction to modular having rooms, PV panels, and passive ventilation.
“The proposed scheme will aim to use responsible sourced materials with accreditations to promote lower carbon footprint and sustainable manufacturing processes.
“There will be additional tree planting across the site which will help to promote biodiversity on the site and create a positive ecological enhancement in terms of health and well-being but equally in relation to climate change.”
It states: “The applicant advises that there can be no dispute that the proposal would contribute towards a community need as the provision of a purpose-built new community hub building and enhanced sport facilities to serve the immediate local community. They consider that the benefits significantly outweigh any small loss of open space, which is limited to 2.38 percent of the total original open space provision within the Paisley Park sports complex site.”
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