Planners refuse permission for 650 new homes on outskirts of Bray
An Coimisiún Pleanála rejected an application by Cosgrave Property Group for permission to construct 241 houses and 409 apartments plus a creche on a 78.5-hectare site off Berryfield Lane in the Fassaroe area of the north Wicklow town.
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The plans also provided for a neighbourhood centre, a new 2.4-kilometre road connecting the N11 to Ballyman Road, a new pedestrian and cycle route including bridge between the N11 and Dargle Road Upper as well as 15.3 hectares of a district park and open spaces which would include a shop and café kiosk.
Most of the site, which is located to the west of the N11/M11 Dublin-Wexford route, is currently in agricultural use.
There are also five former council landfill sites within the lands of the proposed development.
The project was the first phase of a comprehensive development plan for the Fassaroe area which saw the Cosgrave group set out a long-term proposal to construct over 2,200 residential units over four phases up to 2040, subject to planning permission.
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The commission – formerly known as An Bord Pleanála – said the plans did not adhere to the planning principles on compact growth, sequential development and phasing which are set out in the Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028.
It noted the site's peripheral location and distance from Bray town centre and the lack of public transport serving the area as well as the excess of residential zoning in Fassaroe and the availability of other residential-zoned land for development in built-up parts of the town.
The commission also observed that there was uncertainty about the precise arrangements for the delivery of bus services to serve the proposed development based on information provided by the National Transport Authority.
It also rejected the application by the Cosgrave group on the basis that it would 'constitute an insufficient and unacceptable level of density'.
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The commission said the plans would not secure compact growth and would encourage urban sprawl and could result in a car-dependent development.
'It would not represent an efficient or sustainable use of strategically zoned land,' it concluded.
The application, which was made under the fast-track process for strategic housing developments, had been submitted in April 2022.
Wicklow County Council was supportive of the development subject to a number of planning conditions.
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The local authority claimed it was consistent with the zoning objectives for the area and would provide a suitable layout in terms of residential amenity, visual impact and recreational infrastructure.
An Bord Pleanála had previously refused planning permission by the same developer for a development of 658 units and neighbourhood centre on the same site in 2017 over concerns about public transport services and its potential adverse impact on the N11/M11, other businesses in Bray town centre and the Balllyman Glen Special Area of Conservation.
The Cosgrave group claimed there had been considerable further action since that time which had clarified that Fassaroe would be served by a public bus route.
It stated that the development would have served as 'an appropriate expansion to Bray town while also providing sufficient amenities for us by the wider population in the area.'
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