Outline planning permission for 28 new homes on a site off Dunluce Park in Ballymena has been granted by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s planning committee, despite receiving more than 50 letters of objection and a petition signed by 1,000 people.

The application, for the third and final phase of a residential development on a 2.26-hectare site beside the River Braid, was approved at a committee meeting on Thursday. The proposal includes a mix of detached and semi-detached properties with open space between the homes and the river.

Objectors, represented by Rosaleen Orr of the Stop the Build community group, argued that the existing road network through the Dunluce Park estate is not suitable for additional traffic. She stated that the estate’s narrow carriageways were designed for 130 homes but now accommodate many households with two cars, and that construction and domestic traffic would funnel through residential streets.

Ms Orr also raised concerns about flooding, citing recent inundation of paths along the River Braid, though she confirmed that nearby homes were not flooded. She called on the committee to preserve the river as one of Ballymena’s valued green spaces.

A planning officer told the committee that the site lies outside the floodplain and that statutory consultees, including the Department for Infrastructure’s rivers and roads divisions, had raised no objection. The officer said the proposed layout was considered acceptable and recommended approval.

The developer’s agent, Dermot Monaghan, said the scheme would improve access to the river with a new traffic lay-by and pedestrian link, addressing existing parking and traffic issues. He noted that the Department for Infrastructure had requested detailed traffic information, and that this had been supplied and found acceptable. He stated that no buildings would be within the floodplain.

During the meeting, councillors questioned whether the road network could safely handle the development. Transport consultant Richard Agus said the department was satisfied after reviewing information typically only required for schemes of 100 homes or more.

Alderman Paul Reid proposed accepting the officer’s recommendation, and the application was approved on a recorded vote, seconded by Alderman Robert Logan. A condition regarding construction traffic may be attached at the next planning stage.