Status
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Construction scheme
(proposed)
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Scheme
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New
single-carriageway link road to connect
the extension of Prince William Road,
Lisburn directly to Pond Park Road,
Lisburn. |
Total
Length
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0.4 km / 0.3 miles
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Dates
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Included in the
Lisburn Area Plan 2001 - adopted during
the 1990s
North Lisburn Feeder
Road completed - March 2006
Included in the Belfast Metropolitan
Area Plan 2015 (proposal LC 17/03)
Planning permission
granted - 13 Nov 2020
2021 - construction could begin
2022 - possible completion (as of Dec
2020)
|
Cost
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£unknown - funded by
private developers
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See
Also
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General
area map - Google Maps
|
Click here to jump
straight down to updates for this scheme.
The North
Lisburn Feeder Road was completed in March
2006, providing a high-quality
single-carriageway link road round the north of
the city from the A512 Dunmurry Bypass in the
east to the A519 Prince William Road, which
forms part of a western bypass of Lisburn. This
completed a "West and North" distributor road
round the city. At the western end the road
crossed over the existing Pond Park Road which
was cut in two, while Prince William Road was
extended slightly to meet it at a new
roundabout. The plan has alwats been to extend
Prince William Road northwards to meet Pond Park
Road but from 2006 onwards this road was ony
partly built, requiring all Pond Park Road
traffic to awkwardly cut down Lady Wallace
Avenue for the past decade. The situation before
and after the construction of the Feeder Road is
shown in the map below. The third panel shows
the length of unbuilt road (in blue) that would
be required to complete the job. This length of
road could justifiably be described as the final
phase of the North Lisburn Feeder Road.

The photograph below
was taken at point X in 2006, just after the
road was completed. The second image was taken
from Google Streetview and shows roughly the
same view in 2012, showing that a lot of
development has since happened.

View north from the junction with Lady Wallace
Avenue (off frame to right), 22 July 2006. Point
X on map above. [Wesley Johnston]

Google StreetView looking north from the
junction with Lady Wallace Avenue (off frame to
right), in 2012. Point X on map above.
The reason for the
delay in completion of the road link is that the
road is privately funded to support the adjacent
housing developments, and until now the
extension was not required. However in 2017 a
planning application was submitted to build the
extension and is shown below:
The plan is to extend the road
north to meet Pond Park Road at a point
between the Beanstown Road and Oldpark Road
junctions. The north end of the bypassed
section of Pond Park Road will be stopped up
(as it already is at its south end). This will
require the demolition of a derelict property
at the corner of Beanstown Road.
Updates
22 Dec 2020: Planning permission for
this scheme was finally granted
last month, on 13 November 2020 (planning ref
LA05/2018/0139/F). That means that the developer
can proceed to construction as soon as they
wish. In theory, if work was to get underway
during 2021 it could be completed and in use by
2022. Whether they do begin work soon will
probably hinge on the extent to which the
pandemic has affected their operations and
finances. With thanks to Mike Nesbitt for
flagging up this development to me.
26 Mar 2020: A year has passed and there
is no change to this planning application, which
has now been out for consultation for two years.
DFI advertised the scheme in the press in August
2019 (see here),
but the Planning Service web site indicates only
8 responses, all of which are from public bodies
who are generally supportive, and none from
private individuals. This means it's highly
likely that permission will be granted. The
closing date for consultations was 17 March 2020
(last week) so we may see more movement on the
application this year. The big unknown is the
coronavirus-induced recession that is likely to
come this year, and the impact this might have
on developer-led schemes such as this one. So we
may need to wait a little longer than we thought
this time last year.
6 Mar 2019: This scheme is moving
towards construction. Planning permission was
applied for in February 2018 (planning ref
LA05/2018/0139/F) but has still not been
granted. According to DFI, there was an issue
around notifying landowners about the proposed
scheme and it has taken additional time to
identify all the landowners and ensure they are
fully informed. It seems that the project will
work by the developer passing ownership of the
lands to DFI, DFI then Vesting some additional
land, and then construction taking place. This
suggests that DFI itself may be going to oversee
construction, though it will be paid for by the
developer. DFI said in November that the road
"could" be completed during 2021, which suggests
construction beginning during 2020. With thanks
to Paul Givan MLA, Alderman William Leathem and
Gavin Bamford for information on this.
22 Jul 2017: With thanks to @darrenni on
Twitter for alerting me to the planning
application that has gone in to complete the
road link. Since it's in the Belfast
Metropolitan Area Plan it is highly likely to
get permission, so I would hope it will be
constructed within the next couple of years.
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