Adverse impact on historical town wall reason for refusal

PERMISSION has been refused for four apartments in Drogheda.

It was stated by An Bord Pleanála that the proposed development at Mount Saint Oliver would ‘adversely impact on Drogheda’s historic Town Wall’.

Earlby Limited had been refused permission by Louth County Council for a change of use of an existing store building to residential accommodation, comprising one studio apartment approximately 36 sqm in area and three one-bedroom apartments of approximately 46sqm. The proposal also included four car parking spaces.

The local authority said the apartments were ‘substandard having regard to “Design Standards for New Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2022)” specifically in terms of the substandard design, awkward internal layouts, substandard quality of the private amenity spaces and the communal immunity space proposed and where it has not been demonstrated that habitable rooms would receive adequate natural light.’

The council continued that the development ‘has failed to demonstrate that it will not impact upon a section of Drogheda’s historic town wall that forms part of this site and is also a scheduled monument (reference LH024-041014) and protected structure (reference DB158)’.

There were concerns the proposal would impact upon the structural integrity of the town wall.

Earlby appealed the decision to refuse permission to An Bord Pleanála.

A report noted that the fee simple owner is Louth County Council and has remained so since inception of the lease on February 3. The appellant is a leaseholder of the site.

The grounds of the appeal included that the proposed development would represent an efficient use of underutilised residential zoned lands which are serviced and located in a central urban location close to the town centre and public transport routes.

‘The proposal is located in a historically sensitive area and would represent a much-improved visual appearance on the existing commercial building and yard area, open the new vista of the old town wall and remove from the area heavy commercial vehicles associated with the current commercial use.

‘A comprehensive archaeological report from an archaeological consultancy services unit was included in support of the application.’

It was argued that the proposal met the Sustainable Urban Housing Design Standards for new apartments in full.

‘All four apartments have south facing aspect while two have dual aspect.’

A response from the local authority included that ‘issues concerning the ownership of the site and Louth County Council’s interest in surrounding lands did not form any basis of the planning assessment and there has been no engagement with other sections of the Council in this regard.’

Two observations to the appeal, and against the development, were received from Neil Branigan and Noel Kierans.

An inspector from an Bord Pleanála recommended that permission be refused.

The Board decided to refuse permission, generally in accordance with the inspector’s recommendation.

‘It is considered that the proposed development fails to provide an acceptable standard of residential development, in particular regarding private amenity space, communal space, apartment layout and natural lighting.

It was also felt that the proposal ‘would injure Drogheda’s historic Town Wall and would adversely affect the Millmount Architectural Conservation Area’.

The Board expressed a view that the surface water draining arrangements had not been adequately detailed for an elevated site to the rear of established housing and abutting the town wall.