A huge Newry industrial warehouse has been approved despite hundreds of objections to the development in a residential area.
The £15m Savage & Whitten wholesale distribution hub was signed off by the planning committee of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) on Wednesday (January 10).
The Chancellor’s Road Residents Group had objected to the 180,000 square foot development on concerns it would stick out “like a sore thumb” in an otherwise quiet rural zone with plans for a “full scale industrial operation in a residential area”.
A spokesperson in chambers said: “We welcome the investment in to Newry, but this is the wrong location, when there is sufficient sites available at Greenbank or Carnbane industrial estates.
“Since this application was made, there have been more houses built in the area, yet the hours of operation for the warehouse seem to have been expanded.”
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A council report has shown that over 320 objections have been made to the application with concerns raised including road traffic safety and environmental impact of noise and light.
However, a representative of Savage & Whitten told the committee that they would be “a good neighbour” and stated the new development would bring an increase of its local payroll from £10m to £12m annually with an increase in the company’s 250 plus workforce.
The new warehouse, which will store ambient, chilled, fresh and frozen products will replace the current Savage & Whitten building in the Carnbane industrial estate, where it has been since 2010 and is projected to open later this year.
The rep added that lorries entering and leaving the site would be limited to between 6am and 7pm. An original outline had proposed 7am to 7pm.
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Internal work at the new warehouse would also continue through the night with approximately 10 to 15 cars entering and leaving.
The chamber was also told that sound from the 12 lorry docks for loading on site, would be “mitigated by acceptable background noise levels” and buffered by distance from the main road and acoustic fencing.
A proposal to approve the application was passed at a vote of 10 for and one abstaining (Sinn Fein Cllr Cathal King).
