Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council planning officers refused permission for two dwellings and garages at 27-29 Lough Road Lower in Lurgan. The application came from McKeown & Shields Assoc. Ltd of Coalisland on behalf of William and Joseph Gentle of Ulster Street, Lurgan.

The proposal aimed to provide homes for Irish Traveller families on land owned by the applicants. Craigavon Traveller Support Committee manager Lisa Hogg wrote to council officers in support. She noted seven serviced pitches and five transit pitches exist for Irish Travellers in the ABC Council area.

Hogg stated the 2021 Census records 2,600 Irish Travellers in Craigavon, one of the largest such populations in Northern Ireland. She added that only 42 Traveller pitches exist across Northern Ireland.

Hogg cited the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission 2018 report on shortages of suitable Traveller accommodation. She referenced a 2009 court ruling in John Boswell v Planning Appeals Commission that required authorities to support Travellers' lifestyles on their own land.

Council officers required applications from registered housing associations with Northern Ireland Housing Executive needs assessments showing no alternatives in settlements. This application lacked both and did not explore settlement options.

Officers found submitted information lacked local Traveller provision data or population statistics to prove site need. The site sits in a landscape hollow off a cul-de-sac serving houses to the west, screened by vegetation from Kinnego Embankment and the M1.

Despite low visual prominence, officers ruled the dwellings plus approved stables would create suburban development contrary to policy. The layout with houses facing an internal access road deviated from local patterns of homes fronting main roads.