Kidney unit refusal upheld on appeal
AN BORD PLEANALA RULES AGAINST DIALYSIS UNIT IN WHITEMILL
A Wexford councillor has called on the HSE and medical company B Braun to proceed with the building of a kidney dialysis unit in Drinagh after An Bord Pleanala upheld Wexford County Council’s refusal of planning permission to Fresenius Medical Care for a renal centre at Whitemill Industrial Estate. IN a decision announced a few days ago, the appeals board ruled that the proposed development would restrict the future use of adjacent sites within the industrial estate.
Council planners turned down the Whitemill proposal last August and Fresenius which won the HSE tender, appealed against the decision in early December. In November, B. Braun which was a runner-up in the HSE tender process, applied for planning permission for an alternative dialysis unit in Sinnottstown Lane, Drinagh and was granted planning permission before Christmas.
The HSE said at the time, that following legal advice, it had decided to progress a supplementary tender which could be cancelled in the event of a successful appeal by Fresenius. If the appeal failed, it would allow the badly-needed dialysis unit to be expedited.
‘Should the appeal be successful, then this supplementary process will terminate. Should the appeal not be successful, then the process continues to competition and solution.’ the HSE said late last year.
Following the An Bord Pleanala ruling, Labour councillor George Lawlor it is now absolutely imperative that the B Braun option on a greenfield site in Sinnottstown Lane is activated ‘as a matter of urgency’.
‘People requiring dialysis from Co Wexford have been forced to travel for their treatment for years. At last we can say there is light at the end of this very long tunnel,’ said Cllr. Lawlor.
The appeals board ruled that the site at Whitemill is on an established industrial estate and a dialysis unit would result in non-industrial use.
‘ The development would result in the loss of valuable industrial floor space and would by reason of its specific requirements for a clean environment, restrict the future use and expansion of adjacent sites within the industrial estate, it said.
‘ The proposed development would, therefore, materially contravene the provision of the Wexford Town Development Plan; would create an undesirable precedent for further similar development; would undermine the role and function of the industrial estate and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.’
In her report, An Bord Pleanala inspector Mary Kennelly noted that the southern part of an adjacent Council Depot site had been identified as a possible household recycling and waste disposal site for the town.
Quoting from a Council senior planner’s report, she also said it had been concluded that industrially zoned land such as this, is a valuable resource that should be protected for industrial uses that require higher tolerance of noise, air emissions etc and that such a non-conforming use would restrict the use of adjoining industrial lands.
This could impact on investment decisions of the manufacturing sector when considering locations for new investment.
Under the Wexford Town Development Plan, uses that are permitted in the industrial zone include industrial, light industrial, storage and transport depot, restaurant, park and ride, civic/amenity/recycling.
Uses which are open to consideration include offices and a refuse transfer station.
However, ‘Medical and related use’ is either permitted or open to consideration in every zone except industrial, core retail and open space.
In the appeal, John Spain Planning Consultants on behalf of Fresenius Medical Care Ltd referred to a precedent whereby permission was granted for similar use in a ‘General Business’ zone in Kilkenny.
The consultants submitted that there is a variety of existing uses in the area including Lidl, Whitemill Medical Centre and McCauley Pharmacy which provide precedents for medical use in the area.
However, the local authority argued that these premises comply with planning as they are located within a Neighbourhood Centre zone.
Requests for information on what will happen now were sent to the HSE and Fresenius but no responses were forthcoming at the time of going to press.