West Belfast plan submitted to turn former GP surgery into a home for Relatives For Justice

An application has been lodged with Belfast City Council to change the former Glen Road GP surgery at 1a Norfolk Parade into a community advice centre and office for Relatives For Justice, with the neighbour consultation open until February 12.

An application has been submitted to Belfast City Council to change the use of a former GP surgery in West Belfast into a community advice centre and office for Relatives For Justice. The site is 1a Norfolk Parade on Glen Road, formerly the Glen Road Surgery. The submission appears on the NI Planning Portal and names Bill Rollston as applicant with O'Callaghan Planning as the agent. The Norfolk Parade branch closed in late 2022 when services were consolidated at Carrick Hill Medical Centre. Key details: - The application requests change of use from a doctors' surgery to a community advice centre and office at 1a Norfolk Parade, Belfast BT11. - The applicant is listed as Bill Rollston and the agent company as O'Callaghan Planning. - The submission states no work has been carried out to date, that it is a permanent application, and that the site's four parking spaces will remain unchanged. - The neighbour consultation on the Planning Portal runs until February 12 and currently shows no comments. - The Norfolk Parade site was closed by Crossin and Higgins GP surgery in late 2022, which required over 3,000 patients to travel for appointments after services were moved. - Relatives For Justice, formed in 1991, provides therapeutic support, welfare and benefits advice, advocacy and legal accompaniment, and runs community programmes and satellite sessions across Northern Ireland. Summary: If approved, the application would repurpose the former Norfolk Parade surgery as a local base for Relatives For Justice. The neighbour consultation runs until February 12, and further consideration by Belfast City Council is the next procedural stage.