Andrew Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans for a health centre at the former Salvation Army hall in Coleraine have been received by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
The recently-submitted planning application seeks to convert the building at 152 Ballycastle Road, which was the site a Salvation Army hall until its closure in 2020, to an urgent medical healthcare day centre.
An accompanying Planning Statement said the centre will facilitate walk-in clients as a paid alternative to NHS clinics and hospital Accident and Emergency departments, and the existing building is to be retained in its entirety aside form some “internal partitioning”.
“The application is compliant with the SPPS (Strategic Planning policy Statement) in that it is sustainable, supports economic development and protects the amenity of the surrounding areas,” the statement added.
“The proposed facility supports and promotes the health and well-being of community members via a faster and locally accessible initial consultation ahead of or in place of the local Accident and Emergency Department.
“Access to the site is via the existing access to the public parking in front of the adjacent shops, opening hours will be 8am to 8pm, Friday to Sunday, initially, which overlap with the adjacent shop opening hours, on Friday and Saturday between 9am and 5.30pm, with no overlap in the evenings and during the day on Sunday.
“There is sufficient parking on site to accommodate all visitors to the property, as well as adequate parking space in front of the existing shops to service these.
“Visitors to the site are unlikely to cause any disturbance to the adjacent residences or businesses in terms of noise or excessive traffic noise.”