A LOCAL political representative has welcomed a decision by the Planning Service to refuse permission for four new blocks of apartments in Andersonstown. SDLP Councillor Tim Attwood said the decision was good news for residents of Stockmans Crescent who had been opposing the proposal since its submission in 2010. The former petrol station site on Kennedy Way on which the apartments were planned  to be built is at present a car-washing operation

Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Councillor Attwood said: “One of these proposed blocks would have been five storeys and the other three would have been three storeys on land bordered by Kennedy Way and Stockmans Crescent. I want to congratulate the residents of Stockmans who have consistently opposed the overdevelopment of their community. It is clear that the development of five- and three-storey apartment blocks would have eroded the environmental quality, character and amenity of their area. The Planning Service have accepted this.”

Mr Attwood said that he hoped the decision sends a clear message that communities in West Belfast want the development of family homes, not flats. “After all, Stockmans is a family area,” he added.