Plans submitted for 32 new luxury apartments at Galgorm Resort

CGI image of proposed apartments at Galgorm Resort, Ballymena

A planning application has been lodged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for 32 new self-catering apartments at Galgorm Resort on Fenaghy Road, outside Ballymena.

A planning statement submitted with the application indicates the proposed luxury apartments would form a four-storey development with a central communal entrance space.

The scheme would include a variety of apartment types and shared facilities. Eighteen of the proposed units are two-bedroom apartments measuring 82 square metres, six are two-bedroom apartments at 95 square metres, and eight are three-bedroom apartments measuring 126 square metres.

The proposal also includes a 280-square-metre roof garden.

If approved, the development would be located on part of the resort’s former nine-hole golf course.

The planning statement notes that Galgorm Resort comprises a wide range of resort and spa facilities, including more than 125 guest rooms, cottages, log cabins, shepherds’ huts and other residences, alongside a thermal village and spa, restaurants, bars, conference and banqueting facilities, as well as a championship parkland golf course, which hosts the ISPS Handa World Invitational.

“The proposed development by Galgorm Resort is a response to the borough’s excellent location and linkages and an investment in the tourism industry,” the statement said.

CGI image: Aerial view of proposed apartments at Galgorm Resort, Ballymena

“Galgorm Resort is sited on the River Maine within a 200-acre estate to the north-west of Ballymena. Galgorm Resort is of significant importance to the local and regional economy.

“The excellent location is part of what makes Galgorm Resort successful and what will make the proposed development attractive as a holiday home for the apartment owners.”

The statement explains that the apartments would be offered for sale by Galgorm Resort but would not be intended for permanent residential use.

“Whilst the proposed accommodation is not a type of tourist accommodation as defined in the Tourism (NI) Order 1992, the owners of the apartments will not be permanent residents and will be staying in them outside their usual environment, for not more than one consecutive year, for leisure (and, potentially, other) purposes.

“Whilst the proposed apartments at Galgorm Resort are not a hotel as per the established definition of a hotel in the Tourism (NI) Order 1992, they are accommodation which falls within the definition of a tourism use.”

Location plan for proposed apartments at Galgorm Resort, Ballymena

The statement also adds:

“Over the last 30 years, Galgorm Resort has undergone a £60m investment programme. The proposed development represents part of the ongoing investment being made in the tourism offer at the resort.”

It was further noted that 850 people are employed across the Galgorm Collection, with an annual payroll of £18m, which is said to contribute significantly to the regional and local economy.