Banbridge / Newry and Mourne Area Plan 2015
District Proposals: Loughbrickland

Loughbrickland is located in the south-western part of Banbridge district, approximately 3 kilometres south of Banbridge town.

The village sits in a hollow at the head of a valley in an undulating drumlin landscape. It is bounded to the east by the A1 dual carriageway, to the north by Loughbrickland House and its grounds and to the south and west by Loughbrickland Park and rising land beyond.

Loughbrickland village is a very old settlement having originally developed around the junction of the old A1 Dublin Road with Rathfriland Road and Scarva Street. More recent development has extended the village to the north and west along the Banbridge Road, Scarva Street, Old Newry Road, Donard View Road and Poyntzpass Road. There are several listed buildings within the settlement limit. These include St. Melon’s Church of Ireland Church and its grounds, Loughbrickland Presbyterian Church and its grounds, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, The Corn Mill and its associated buildings and two dwellings in Scarva Street.

Its role as a service centre for the surrounding rural area has become limited, given its proximity to both Banbridge and Newry. It still however, retains a strong village core with a post office, pharmacy, a doctors surgery, the village park, several places of worship, community halls, two primary schools and Newbridge Integrated College. The settlement provides an educational focus, as well as an ecumenical focus for the surrounding area.

The settlement development limit has been 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 settlement limit is also designated to provide for additional development opportunities, which utilise current capacity within the settlement limit, in order to maintain a compact urban form and protect the setting of the village. The natural constraints such as the distinctive landscape setting of the field patterns to the west of the town and the fact that the settlement is bounded by the A1 dual carriageway to the east help to achieve this aim. The settlement limit also takes account of the setting of Loughbrickland House, an important listed building to the north. The development limit is drawn in order to avoid development which would contribute to urban sprawl and ribbon development.

The Housing Needs Assessment has identified a social housing need of 16 dwellings for Loughbrickland. Zoned housing site LD 04 has been identified to meet this social housing need in Loughbrickland.

Details of the social housing allocation and associated methodology are contained in the Population and Housing Technical Supplement.

The following sites, including committed sites, are zoned for housing. Policy for the control of development on zoned sites is contained in Policy SMT 2 in Volume 1 of the Plan. Zoned land will be developed in accordance with all prevailing regional planning policy and with any relevant Plan Policies and Proposals, including, where specified, key site requirements.

An application for outline planning permission has been submitted for housing development on part of this site

The A1 is a Protected Route as indicated on Map No. 2/08 - Loughbrickland. Policy for the control of access to the A1 is contained in Policy TPT 1 in Volume 1 of the Plan.

The following transport scheme LD 06 is proposed as identified on Map No. 2/08 - Loughbrickland. Policy AMP 4 of PPS 3 - Access, Movement and Parking provides protection for new transportation schemes.

The implementation of this scheme will improve road safety by reducing the number of right turning movements on the dual carriageway. The scheme is being taken through statutory procedures under the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993.