Attendees of bricklaying courses in Northern Ireland are to see an increase in employment opportunities near Ballyclare.

A new housing scheme in the area has been given the go ahead, which will result in the creation of 159 new properties courtesy of Turley Associates and KPL Group.

This will form the first phase of a much wider programme of house-building near the site of the planned Ballyclare Relief Road, with around 2,200 new homes set to be created in total.

It is expected that this programme will lead to more than 100 jobs being generated, with the development period set to last around 15 years.

Clyde Shanks, director at Turley Associates, said: "This success is a hugely important milestone for KPL Group in seeking to deliver major growth to Ballyclare."

This comes after the Home Builders Federation urged the government to maintain spending on house-building earlier this week in order to carry on creating new jobs for construction industry workers.

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