{"id":573888,"date":"2025-11-16T10:02:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/573888\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T10:02:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:02:24","slug":"the-history-is-gone-calls-for-greater-protection-of-northern-irelands-built-heritage-as-planning-approved-for-unlisted-dunmurry-mill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/573888\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The history is gone\u2019 \u2013 Calls for greater protection of Northern Ireland\u2019s built heritage as planning approved for unlisted Dunmurry mill"},"content":{"rendered":"

A heritage group<\/a> has called for greater protection of Northern Ireland\u2019s buildings as a former unlisted mill in Dunmurry<\/a> could be demolished following recent planning permission approval.<\/p>\n

Permission was granted for plans to turn the former mill site on Upper Dunmurry lane into 32 apartments at a Belfast City Council (BCC)<\/a> committee meeting last month.<\/p>\n

A previous application for the site, which was first lodged in 2010, was refused five years ago over the retention of the building.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Spanish Armada cannon removed from Derry museum by specialist firm<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Charity<\/a>\"Concerned<\/a><\/p>\n

However, last month the demolition of the original mill buildings was approved. <\/p>\n

\"StewartsStewarts Mill on Upper Dunmurry Lane that is due to be demolished for apartment blocks. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN <\/p>\n

The site, known as Stewart\u2019s Mill, was not listed by the Department for Communities (DfC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chair of Architecture, Planning and Policy at Ulster Architectural Heritage (UAH) John Anderson told The Irish News that it was a \u201cpuzzle\u201d as to why it had not been listed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s industrial heritage of the area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has architectural merit; very nicely detailed in the brickwork. It\u2019s very much a complete unit, which is rare this day. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also an integral part of Dunmurry\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Anderson said that the site dates back to the mid-1800s, turning into a printworks in the 1870s and later Stewart\u2019s textiles mill.<\/p>\n

He added that the failure to list the mill was part of a wider issue with the council and government\u2019s attitude towards heritage sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go to the great American cities, they\u2019re repurposing their mill buildings \u2013 the same across the water, the same down south,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the government\u2019s stance on heritage sites was \u201cvery difficult to understand\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"StewartsStructural reports into the old mill said that “retention and restoration is not a viable alternative” PICTURE: MAL MCCANN <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a serious degree of inconsistency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the listings recently have been things like telephone boxes and mile posts. Yes, that\u2019s admirable, but it shouldn\u2019t be top of the list. <\/p>\n

\u201cGenerations of youngsters coming up need to be able to enquire as to where they came from. If you make a place completely soulless with no history, they have no roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe history is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planning applicants stated that they would use the reclaimed bricks from the mill as part of a boundary wall facing Upper Dunmurry Lane to keep in line with the original building.<\/p>\n

Co-owner John Maxwell, who has run a business at the mill for 20 years, told The Irish News that \u201cnothing\u2019s happening overnight\u201d and that it was an investment for his future as he nears retirement.<\/p>\n

A BCC spokesperson added that the former mill buildings at Dunmurry were \u201cunfortunately\u201d in \u201ctoo poor a state of repair to retain and reuse\u201d, which had been endorsed by the Planning Appeals Commission. <\/p>\n

They said that the plans, which had been \u201capproved by elected members, will bring much-needed new housing for the area, including seven new social housing units\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a landowner, council recognises the social and environmental value of sustaining our city\u2019s built heritage,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\"StewartsJohn Anderson of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society at Stewarts Mill on Upper Dunmurry Lane that is due to be demolished for apartment blocks. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN <\/p>\n

They pointed to successful restoration of sites include Templemore Baths and St Comgall\u2019s as well as the recent purchase of the Assembly Rooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for DfC said that the former mill building \u201csits in an area that has been surveyed twice by the department\u201d and had also been \u201creviewed as a listing query by the department in 2010 and 2024\u2033.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department continues to prioritise surveys for buildings that have potential to meet the listing criteria as buildings of special architectural or historic interest in line with legislation,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s Historical Environment Division (HED) also requested a structural report, following which it advised \u201cretention and restoration is not a viable alternative\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A heritage group has called for greater protection of Northern Ireland\u2019s buildings as a former unlisted mill in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[5813,139405,91750,2348,1144,19793,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-573888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast-city-council","9":"tag-dfc","10":"tag-dunmurry","11":"tag-history","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-planning-permission","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115558806997383965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}