Housing scheme given go-ahead on site of former Co Down school

A DISUSED Co Down school could soon be transformed into an 85-home development as the building boom in Newtownards gains momentum.

The site of Scrabo High has been vacant since the college’s closure in the late 1990s.

Now plans have been approved for the land, close to the centre of the town, which include the construction of 52 semi-detached homes, 25 detached homes and eight apartments.

The application has been made by JHT Newtownards, a Portadown firm directed by members of the Turkington family, who are also behind well known construction firm JH Turkington & Sons.

JH Turkington has a turnover of more than £20m and has been operating for more than 60 years.

The plans, approved at a meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council on Tuesday, include a park, and shows an area of the original site that has been set aside to “potentially” become a park and ride.

The town is currently in the midst of a building boom, with Northern Ireland’s largest housing development in 10 years under construction.

More than 700 people attended the Rivenwood show village open day in January.

In December developers announced plans to turn the former Irish Tapestry building on South Street into a 44-home development.

At one point the Scrabo High School site had been earmarked for a B&Q store, but the plans were abandoned.

The chain had hoped to build a 100,000sq ft store with a 30,000sq ft garden centre and 20,000sq ft building products yard on the site. JH Turkington has previously built some of Belfast’s most recognisable modern buildings including Laganside Courts, PSNI’s Musgrave Street District Command Unit and Law Society House.