Transformation of Bessbrook Mill gets go ahead
Press release: 22 March 2011
The regeneration of one of Northern Ireland's most historic mills has been given planning permission.
The proposals from Millbrook Properties will see the transformation of Bessbrook Mill and the former army base into a residential led, mixed use complex which will see the renewal of the mill building and re-establish the connection with Bessbrook village. The development will deliver vital regeneration in a careful and sensitive manner and will rekindle the industrial heritage of the site.
Belfast planning and urban design consultancy Turley Associates acted for Millbrook Properties.
The complex, a former flax spinning and weaving mill built by the Richardson family in the 1800s, formed a key element of The Model Village of Bessbrook. Situated in a historic park, the mill was highly regarded for producing some of the world's finest linen. The proposals represent the first opportunity to bring the buildings back into beneficial use for the village.
The Millbrook Properties proposals include:
272 residential units, including social housing provision
Small scale office and retail units
Residents gym
Children's' play area
Landscaped parkland
Historic linkages to the village will be reinstated as part of the development
Commenting on the proposals, Acheson Elliott of Millbrook Properties said:
"We have consulted with the local community and have worked with consultees and the planning service over a sustained period of time to gain this permission which is now secured. Transforming the site into a new village quarter for this historical area is a main priority of our plans; however, the market at the moment possibly means that we will not be moving to the building stage at the present time. Now that it has finally passed the planning stage, we are in the process of gaining appropriate levels of funding to turn this exciting vision into reality.
"Bessbrook is a beautiful historic rural village only an hour away from the two main cities on the island of Ireland and we are moving towards the positive enhancement of the area for the benefit of locals and visitors alike."
Sara Walker, Senior Planner at Turley Associates said:
"We have worked hard to engage with Planning Service, the local community and consultees to secure the agreement for this proposal. This has taken longer than the initial consultation had indicated but we are delighted that the planning permission has now been finalised."
Millbrook Properties worked with Turley Associates on the masterplan for the development and with Newry based architects Milligan Reside Larkin.
Eamon Larkin, Director at Milligan Reside Larkin added:
"After a varied and chequered past the proposed redevelopment of the site aims to reinstate the mill to its rightful place in the heart of the village."
"This was implemented in part by re-establishing routes which would have been used in the past by mill workers. The scale of the existing structures has been addressed by the creation of tree lined avenues and landscaped pedestrian squares which aim to create communities and spaces of more human scale.
"In addition to the creation of hard landscaped areas a large proportion of the site remains as usable parkland. As architects we endeavoured to retain the site's heritage by reusing existing structures. In the new build component of the development we employed a similar pallet of materials in a contemporary but sympathetic manner thus allowing future visitors to Bessbrook Mill to trace its recent development.
"Milligan Reside Larkin is delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Millbrook Properties and the rest of the design team on this most interesting of projects."
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About Turley Associates
Turley Associates is the UK's leading independent planning and urban design consultancy. The firm operates from 10 offices - London, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast - and has market leading expertise in planning, urban design, masterplanning, sustainability and heritage. The firm has a strong reputation in the house building, retail, infrastructure, energy, health, education, sports and leisure, waste, minerals and mining and financial sectors.