New GP surgery and pharmacy plan for Ferndale
A well-known Wexford town chemist has applied to the County Council for planning permission to build a new doctor’s surgery and pharmacy at Ferndale in Coolcotts, an area of high residential population in need of improved local amenities.
Derek Fehily and his wife Kesree have submitted a planning application for the project through Killyon Investments Ltd, a company with a registered address at Ballyharron Upper, Crossabeg of which they are both directors.
Killyon Investments was set up in March of this year and the principal activity of the company is decribed as dispensing chemist.
Derek Fehily is a pharmacist and businessman who runs the successful Fehily’s family chemist in South Main Street which was opened by his late father John in 1960.
The planning application was made on behalf of Killyon Investments by Nigel Redmond architects and building surveyors of High Street who designed the two-storey building which extends to a floor space of 475 square metres and incorporates a doctor’s surgery with waiting area, reception and five consultation rooms and a retail pharmacy with two consultation rooms and staff facilities.
The ground floor will mainly serve the pharmacy while part of the ground floor and all of the first floor will accommodate the surgery. Both businesses will be separate units with no internal link between them.
It is envisaged that the surgery and pharmacy will provide employment for up to 20 people in part-time and full-time positions.
The area is zoned for Neighbourhood/Mixed use in the Town Development Plan and the site is situated within an existing, long-established retail development which includes a supermarket and a takeaway, lending itself naturally to the demand for a pharmacy and a doctor’s surgery, according to the applicants.
The project would also clean up a patch of ground that is known for anti-social behaviour and will provide a visual boundary between the residential area and the retail park.
In order to protect the privacy of adjoining neighbours in Ferndale Park, the plans ensure that there is no direct overlooking into private gardens, according to the planning application. All offices have proposed windows looking over the green area or directly onto the retail units. Only essential windows for natural light or fire regulation purposes will look towards Ferndale Park.
The owner of the site, Anthony Doyle who is the local supermarket proprietor, has given his permission to the applicants to apply for planning permission for the development.
‘Subject to the successful granting of planning permission and subject to contract, I will issue, through my acting solicitor a Right of Way for the applicant and its customers to use the existing car parking facilities of approximately 50 spaces,’ Mr. Doyle outlined in a letter to Council planners.