Plan to convert rural Mayo pub into apartments is rejected

A proposal to convert a former Mayo pub into apartments has been rejected by Mayo County Council.
An application was lodged with the local authority for a change of use of Digger Jay’s in Toorbuck, Ayle, Westport.
Novaquest Ltd had submitted plans to convert the pub into three two-bedroom apartments and renovate the existing dwelling house. The applicant also sought to extend an existing attic store and construct one two-bedroom apartment. The proposed application would have resulted in a change to the front elevation and the replacement of the flat roof element to a pitched roof as well as two box dormers to the rear elevation to provide for one of the apartments.
A local landowner raised concerns about the development, commenting that plans to dispose of treated effluent from the site to a percolation area within his land were not discussed with him.
The landowner claimed there was a history of flooding in the area and expressed fears about the potential impact on his land from any effluent arising from the apartment development.
Council planners stated that the proposed project was “suburban in nature” and would be out of character with existing development in the area. They said the location is in an unserviced rural area outside of any settlement/village and as such does not comply with the Mayo County Development Plan 2022-2028 where multiple residential units are directed into defined settlements.
Planners said that granting permission would set a precedent that would “lead to demands for the uneconomic provision of public services and communal facilities". The council contended that the development would “contribute to the erosion of the visual and environmental amenity of the area; and would therefore interfere with the character of the landscape at this location which it is necessary to preserve.” They were also not satisfied that the existing wastewater treatment system would have the capacity to cope with such a development, adding that a multi-unit development serviced by a treatment system would be considered “substandard and can lead to issues with maintenance in the future".