Go-ahead for 59 houses and two car showrooms in Ardcavan
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THE Wexford businessman and developer Michael Hayes has been granted planning permission by Wexford County
Council for a major housing development and two car showrooms at Crosstown, Ardcavan on the outskirts of town.
The entrepreneur behind Wexford’s O’Briens coffee shops, the Eir shop and Ramen street food restaurant along with other business projects, applied last December for approval to build 59 detached and semi-detached houses, two car dealership showrooms and five commercial/light industrial units on zoned land across the road from Ardcavan Business Park.
The site is zoned for mixed commercial use and was the subject of an earlier successful planning application by Mr. Hayes who was granted permission in January 2012 to build a roundabout to access the land, although this was never constructed.
The proposed new development approved with conditions a fortnight ago by the Council, includes two car sales outlets fronting the public road between an existing Audi garage to the south and a service station to the north. The housing estate will be located to the north of the site and the light industrial units to the south.
The plans include extensive landscaping along with an open space, a playground and kick-around area in the centre of the residential scheme which will include 36 three-bed, 17 fourbed and six two-bed houses.
Senior planner Diarmuid Houston said the project which combined elements of residential, car sales and light industrial complied with the zoning of the area for commercial mixed use and represented a ‘master plan’ for these lands which would result in significant economic development for Wexford town.
He recommended the granting of permission, saying the project was in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and would not seriously injure the local amenity.
The site has been zoned since 2009 but it is only recently that the necessary infrastructure has been put in place with Wexford County Council having invested in a sewage scheme extension and major improvements to the Wexford to Castlebridge road.
A new access point was created to the north of the Audi garage as part of the road improvement works carried out by the Council.
An Ardcavan resident made a submission claiming that the development would add extra run-off into the existing storm water system which already floods and pointing out that the road infrastructure is inadequate, there is a lack of social infrastructure in the area and it is ‘an inappropriate development that will split and undermine the town’.
Access is proposed at two locations onto the Wexford to Castlebridge regional road. Planning permission was granted earlier for a roundabout but it was agreed by the Council roads section that this is unnecessary and the use of a ‘T’ junction is more in line with current guidelines.
A traffic impact assessment showed that there will be minimal queues and delays on the road for 15 years after completion while the design provides for adequate car parking and pedestrian and cyclist facilities.
A road will be constructed from east to west through the site to provide linkage between the lands and to facilitate traffic circulation.
The site is within 400 metres of the Slaney River Valley (Special Area of Conservation) and Wexford Harbour and Slobs but the planning officer concluded the project would have no significant impact on them.
Mr. Houston recommended that planning permission be granted for the development subject to conditions which include the payment of €80,00 towards the local authority’s upgrade of the Wexford to Castlebridge road and approximately €48,000 for the provision of improved community facilities, unless additional social housing is provided within the scheme. Six houses have been identified to meet the 10% social housing requirement.
Before any work starts on the site, the developer must provide a financial bond to ensure that the project is satisfactorily completed and must engage the services of a qualified archaeologist to carry out pre-development testing on the land. Mr. Houston said small sections of the site were identified as being at risk of pluvial or rain-related flooding and an assessment was required with regard to possible additional reduction measures to alleviate surface water during extreme rainfall events.
During the planning process, the Wexford District Area Engineer noted problems with drainage due to blockages of the drainage dykes and the development of a new garage which included improved stormwater dispersal from an area that collected water.