Latest news with #Recordof
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
An Bord Pleanála give green light for major extension to Wexford hotel despite objections
The original application that was submitted back in January 2023 detailed their intention to build an extension to the rear of the building that would accommodate 24 additional bedrooms, an office space and stores at ground floor level with outdoor plant area on the roof, all over lower ground level parking area with attached single-storey bin store, and a standalone gas tank enclosure relocated from the existing location. The application also looked for permission for the alteration and extension of the main function room to comprise an adjoining pre-function room facility on the front elevation at ground level. The proposed bedroom extension connections at three upper levels will result in the loss of two rooms at each level, resulting in the proposed development providing a net addition of 18 bedrooms. The application outlined that the slanted roof will minimise scale and address any potential overshadowing to the front of the residential properties located on the opposite side of the external road to the west Bedrooms in the southwest section of the proposed extension are orientated south to exclude potential for any undue overlooking to the west. End balconies have a privacy screen on the west end to avoid overlooking Although the Millhouse Bar, which is located in the northeastern part of the Riverside Park Hotel is on the Record of Protected Structures (E084), they stipulated that the protected structure would not be impacted/materially affected by the proposed development. However, 13 local residents submitted a letter of objection to Wexford County Council, outlining flooding and overlooking concerns believing that these were not addressed satisfactorily. Resident George Kehoe highlighted that the proposed west elevation would increase the risk of privacy violations for a number of residents within the Gurteen / Saw Mill Lane area. "As per the proposed west elevation, there are eight houses overlooking house nos 5,4, and 3. These windows directly impact the privacy and residential amenities of the neighbouring properties. In the case of no.4, these windows directly look overlook the primary garden area at the south of the house.' He added that there are significant concerns that the already existing noise concerns will increase with the equipment required for the maintenance of the proposed plant room. ADVERTISEMENT "Noise from existing heat pumps/generators/extraction fans/ air conditioning units are clearly audible in a number of neighbouring properties in Gurteen. There is a generator at bedroom level of houses in Gurteen that is in use intermittently. There is little to no buffering from these noises. We are concerned the additional noise introduced by the new outdoor plant area, that includes more heat pumps, will further impinge on the neighbouring properties,' he wrote. He also raised concerns over the loss of public car parking spaces and the 'lived' experience of hotel traffic. "Our experience of living in close proximity to the hotel is that the existing 126 hotel car park spaces is not sufficient. There is encroachment onto the private road of Gurteen / Saw Mill Lane. There is huge congestion when concerts and weddings are held in the hotel, leading to road infringements and parking on our road.' Despite this An Bord Pleanala ruled that the scale and nature of the development was acceptable as long as it followed some conditions. One of the conditions included the provision of a plan that would provide protection measures to maintain the integrity of the existing western boundary wall with Saw Mill Lane, as well as details of intended construction practice for the development, hours of working, noise and dust management measures and off-site disposal of construction/demolition waste. The inspector also conducted a number of nature assessments and found that the development would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenity of the area, create any additional flood risk or impact the integrity of the adjacent European sites and would be in accordance with the Wexford Development Plan 2022-2028. Speaking on the decision on behalf of the hotel, Marketing Manager with the Riverside Park Hotel Millie Moore said they are happy with the decision and believe it will bring more opportunities to the area. "We are delighted to have received a positive decision from Bord Pleanála for this expansion of our hospitality offering. We believe this planned expansion of bedrooms from 100 to 118 rooms will allow us to welcome up to 10,000 more visitor nights to Enniscorthy per annum resulting in more and more visitors on the streets of Enniscorthy as well as visiting Wexford Local attractions.' "We believe it will generate up to a further ten full time jobs in the hotel, resulting in up to €300,000 in extra wages back into the community of Enniscorthy,' she added.
Irish Times
04-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Fast-track planning approval for 112 houses and apartments in Co Cork overturned by High Court
A fast-track planning approval for more than 100 houses and apartments in Co Cork has been overturned after the High Court dismissed An Bord Pleanála's 'conveniently Jesuitical' reading of the county development plan. The permission was quashed over the board's failure to justify, in accordance with planning law, its material contravention of objectives of the Cork county development plan (CDP) providing that it 'should' carry out a proper historic buildings assessment, in this case of a post-medieval heritage structure, Highlands House, and associated buildings, before granting planning approval. The board defended its decision on the basis of the notion that the best interpretation of the wording, intention and purpose of the CDP was to say 'that 'should' means you don't have to do it' and the word 'assess' means to assess after the decision has been taken to knock the structure down, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys said. Neither the developer nor board had inspected the interior of Highlands House, which appears on maps from the 1840s and therefore benefits from the protections in the objectives of the CDP, he said. READ MORE The board incorrectly placed 'outsize reliance' on the non-inclusion of the buildings in the Record of Protected Structures and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. The scheme of the CDP was clearly to extend protection for structures not included in those, he held. In his judgment on Friday, he rejected the board's 'conveniently Jesuitical reading' of the CDP and upheld the challenge by a local resident, Deirdre Condon, to the permission granted in late May 2022 to Ruden Homes Ltd. The permission was for demolition of existing buildings and the construction of 112 residential units – 72 houses and 40 apartments – on the site at Ballynaroon, Glounthaune. Cork County Council objected to permission in the absence of an archaeological assessment of the site structures and the board's approval was made under what the judge described as the 'ill-fated', 'much-criticised' and since repealed strategic housing development (SHD) procedure. This particular application was coming before the board as its record of SHD permissions in breach of development plans was 'coming to something of a crunch point, as its deputy chairperson [Paul Hyde] stepped aside on May 10th, 2022', he noted. A board inspector had completed a site visit on May 16th 2022 and, in his report, had recommended permission be granted. The report said Highlands House and other buildings had been heavily modified over time, with 'little' remaining of importance, and disagreed with the local authority's view the house should not be among structures for demolition. Having agreed with the inspector's report, the board directed on May 31st, 2022 that permission be granted. The judge agreed with the board that the relevant CDP – which was replaced on June 6th, 2022 by the Cork County Development Plan 2022-28 – was not mandatory in relation to preserving historic buildings in situ. Before demolition, other options included preservation by a record or by recovered artefacts. However, an assessment, in the clearly intended sense of a physical survey, was envisaged by the CDP as required in advance of demolition, he said. In this case, the board had decided that a full physical survey was required but argued that did not have to be done before a grant of permission and could instead be addressed via a planning condition. That logic was 'incompatible' with the view that there was compliance with the CDP, the judge held. The primary purpose of a survey of historic buildings can only be to guide whether development consent should be granted. Otherwise, if anything of interest that would affect the permission to demolish was discovered in the survey, all that could then be done was to close an empty door 'with the runaway horse just a dot on the horizon'.
