Appeal is lodged over apartment project refusal in Mayo town
The plans are now back before An Coimisiún Pleanála.
A plan to redevelop a coal bunker site for housing will again come before An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Mayo County Council has twice refused the application to turn a former coal bunker site in Castlebar into apartments.
Developer Harold Conway sought to construct 12 apartments on the site adjacent to the junction of the Pontoon and Turlough roads.
The proposal was to consist of four two-bedroom apartments and eight one-bedroom apartments which would be housed in a three-storey building at the location.
While the design of the development was considered acceptable to council architects, the application was refused as the site was not zoned for residential use.
Last year, An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld a council decision to refuse planning for 19 apartments at the site.
A revised application submitted to the council reduced the scale of the housing project. The Planning Partnership, acting as agent for the developer, said the new proposal represents a significantly more compatible approach to the redevelopment of the site, resulting in the issue of land use zoning being capable of being resolved via a material contravention.
The statement contended that the overall project would be anticipated to deliver in excess of €5 million in construction stage investment and would support 60 or more jobs in the town along with housing for approximately 30 people.
A statement from Taylor McCarney Architects said the proposed residential development has been carefully designed to integrate with the established character of Castlebar while completing the urban site with a high-quality architectural response.
However, council planners said the zoning issue remained an obstacle, noting that the site is currently on Enterprise/Employment Zoned Lands and this 'overrides all other factors associated with the development and the assessment of same'.
Planning permission was again refused as the development would ‘materially contravene land use zoning objective of the Castlebar Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2023-2029'.
The council decision on the revised proposal and has now been appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála, which is due to make its decision by February 24 next.
