Planning Context

The site is located on lands at 83-111 Church Street, Ballymena, BT53 6DG and is currently developed as commercial units fronting onto Church Street and a former foodstore to the rear. 

The site includes the existing Church Street retail frontage, a service yard and a vacant foodstore building to the rear. It occupies an important position between Church Street, Meeting House Lane and the adjoining public car park. 

The pedestrian route through this part of the town centre is currently fragmented and ends at the edge of the site. The proposals provide an opportunity to reconnect the Town Centre with the east of the town through the creation of a more welcoming link toward Demesne Avenue and the wider St Patrick's regeneration area. 

The full description of development for which planning permission is sought is the: Proposed reconfiguration of existing retail units at Church Street with erection of new-build residential units above, including the demolition of storage buildings and erection of new residential block with access via Meeting House Lane (circa 79 residential units in total).

A Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) was submitted in July 2026 to Mid & East Antrim Borough Council to notify them of our intention to submit a major planning application.  

As part of the PAN process, we are sharing our proposals with the public through this consultation exercise to seek your feedback. The local community and stakeholders have been notified through a combination of a public notice in the Ballymena Guardian, a local leaflet drop to properties in the surrounding area and emails to the elected representatives for this area of Ballymena.   

At the end of the public consultation period, which closes on Tuesday 29th September 2026, all feedback received will be reviewed and considered by the project team. A summary of the consultation and responses will be considered in a Pre‑Application Community Consultation (PACC) Report, which will be submitted as part of the planning application.   

Once the planning application has been submitted to Mid & East Antrim Borough Council, a statutory consultation and notification period will take place. During this time comments can be made directly to the Council’s Planning Department as they assess and determine the planning application.  

The Martin Property Group (MPG) is a family run development firm that has grown to become one of the UK and Ireland's leading property investment and development companies.

MPG works across a range of sectors within commercial and residential spheres to include; private and social housing, office, retail, hotel, land development, industrial and leisure.

MPG has signficant experience in delivering high-quality residential, commercial and mixed use developments across Northern Ireland and the UK, with a keen focus on support the regeneration of town and city centres.

You can find out more about the applicant here.