Banbridge / Newry and Mourne Area Plan 2015
District Proposals: Gilford Settlement

The designated settlement limit is drawn to take account of land with extant planning permission for housing and sites that have not yet been approved, but are at a stage in the planning application process where there is a reasonable expectation that approval will be granted. The limit is also drawn to protect the natural setting of Gilford as a distinctive mill town on steep slopes of the River Bann valley. It seeks to restrict further linear development of the settlement, and to provide appropriate development opportunities within the existing development limit, commensurate with its role as a local service centre.

The settlement limit excludes land to the immediate north and south of Gilford Castle, along Banbridge Road, in order to protect the distinctive setting of the castle grounds and River Bann. Similarly, to the north of the settlement, along Moyallen Road, the limit has not been extended in order to protect the setting of Elmfield Castle and the prominent land to the east of Lurgan Road and Hunters Hill Road. Land surrounding the Sewage Treatment Works has also been excluded, as well as the undulating and prominent land to the west of development at Stramore Road and Copperfields.