Ballymena Golf Club to add indoor simulator and covered putting green after planning approval

Planning permission has been approved by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for a proposed indoor golf simulator and covered putting area at Ballymena Golf Club.

A planning officer’s report said the proposed development would be located on a “rectangular-shaped, fairly level grassed area between the existing club car park and the course”. The club is situated in the countryside on Raceview Road between Ballymena and Broughshane.

The report stated:

“The proposal involves the erection of a single-storey shed-type structure to house two indoor golf simulators, along with a flat-roofed structure to cover a putting green to allow year-round play.

“The proposal is located on a level site and would allow for increased opportunities for use throughout the year, including when the main golf course is unavailable due to adverse weather conditions.”

The report also said:

“The building is to be finished in anthracite-coloured cladding with timber posts and a translucent flat roof over the green. Public views would be very limited due to the screening from existing vegetation, which is to be retained, and the existing clubhouse buildings to the north.”

It explained the proposal is “minor in terms of scale” and that there would be “no detraction from visual amenity, landscape quality, local distinctiveness or inherent character of the area”, while public views of the development would be “very limited”.

The report also noted that the planned development would be “within an existing golf club complex” and that there would be “no adverse impact on residential amenity due to the nature of the development and the separation distances involved to any third-party residential properties”.

“The siting and design of the proposal is appropriate for the setting within an existing and established golf club in the countryside,” it continued.

“Due to its limited scale and capacity, there is unlikely to be any significant increase in vehicular traffic attracted to the site.”

Planning permission has therefore been granted for the proposal, paving the way for the club to introduce new all-weather practice facilities designed to enhance year-round use of the course and its amenities.