Appeal considered concerns about scale, flooding and overlooking

There were two third party appeals to the proposed hotel development, from John Molloy of 5 Orchard Close in Ardcavan and John White of 86 North Main Street.

The objections included the scale of the project, the risk of flooding, the blocking of a right of way, restriction of the right to light, concern over excavations six metres below ground and further traffic congestion at an already complex and busy junction.

The proposal which was turned down by An Bord Pleanála on appeal was for an eight storey over double basement mixed use development, comprising retail space and a hotel and penthouse apartments.

The design was for a hotel fronting onto Commercial Quay with additional frontage onto Charlotte Street and a small entrance from a single building at 84 North Main Street, with a covered pedestrian link from North Main Street, on a site currently used as a pay and display car park.

In addition to concerns about flooding, the appellants also contended that fire fighters would not have the equipment to fight fire in a 10-storey building.

The developers pointed out that many of the relevant concerns had previously been addressed during an appeal on an adjoining site and outlined the strong demand for tourism-related accommodation in Wexford town.

Wexford County Council planners made a submission to An Bord Pleanála, describing the design as being of a very high standard which reflected the prominence of the location, and said it would ensure that the medieval street pattern was retained.

The local authority said with the scale of the building would not break the skyline and would have a positive impact on the quays.

‘ The height and contemporary design represent the need to create a strong landmark building on the quay front and would add to the viability of the town’, planning inspectors submitted.

In relation to the loss of light at 86 Main Street, an inspector from An Bord Pleanála noted that the property is in use for dental manufacturing products, all the specialist work is conducted under artifical light and there is no loss of light to any residential accommodation within the property.

The inspector also considered a flood risk assessment report and concluded that the proposed development would adequately satisfy flood risk concerns by means of flood resistance and resilience measures.

Expressing satisfaction with measures to address overlooking concerns at North Main Street, he noted that the hotel’s north elevation had a height of 10 stories which is significantly higher than the established properties on Monck Street.