HOU13 Ribbon / Infill Development

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Local Development Plan Draft Plan Strategy 2030
Dúntadate_range16 D.F., 2019, 9:30am - 11 Nol, 2019, 5:00pm

Policy HOU13 Ribbon / Infill Development

Planning permission will be refused for a building which creates or adds to a ribbon of development in the countryside.

An exception will be permitted for the development of a small gap site sufficient to accommodate only one dwelling within an otherwise substantial and continuously built up frontage and provided this respects the existing development pattern along the frontage in terms of size, scale, siting and plot size, meets the General Policy and accords with other provisions of the LDP.

For the purpose of this policy the definition of a substantial and built up frontage includes a line of three or more substantial buildings with a common frontage to a road, footpath or private lane served by individual accesses and visually linked when viewed from that road, footpath or private lane.

Justification and Amplification

Ribbon development is detrimental to the character, appearance and amenity of the countryside. It creates and reinforces a built-up appearance to roads, footpaths and private laneways and can sterilise back-land, often hampering the planned expansion of settlements. It can also make access to farmland difficult and cause road safety problems. Development that extenuates or extends ribboning will therefore be unacceptable.

For the purposes of this policy:

  • A ‘ribbon’ does not necessarily have a continuous or uniform building line. Buildings sited back, staggered or at angles and with gaps between them can still represent ribbon development, if they have a common frontage and they are visually linked when viewed from the road.
  • A building has a frontage to a road, footpath or private lane if the plot on which it stands abuts or shares a boundary with that road, footpath or private lane; an access does not constitute a road frontage.
  • The ‘substantial buildings’ that are being relied upon to create a substantial and built up frontage, should not be located within a designated settlement limit, each should have their own defined curtilage and cannot include ancillary domestic sheds, outbuildings or garages or small agricultural buildings.
  • ‘Visually linked’ refers to a perception of a continuous line of development.

Many frontages in the countryside have gaps between houses or other buildings that provide relief and visual breaks in the developed appearance of the locality that help maintain rural character. The infilling of these gaps will therefore not be permitted except where it comprises the development of a small gap within an otherwise substantial and continuously built up frontage. It will not be sufficient for an applicant to simply show how one dwelling could be accommodated. Applicants must take full account of the existing pattern of development and produce a design solution to integrate the new buildings.

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