Appeal by residents against Pearse Road plan is rejected

dwellings will face onto Pearse Road and will have a height of between 10 and 11 metres.

There will be separate entrances for each house with a new entrance off Pearse Road to serve one of the houses.

Planning board inspector Paul Caprani states that the site is 734 sq.m in size and the present two-storey house, which is vacant, dates from the early 20th century, possibly the inter-war period. “A conservation assessment report concludes that there is nothing of historic interest of note. While there is evidence that suggests that the original house was constructed between 1913 and the late 1930s there is little to recommend the retention of the existing house from an architectural conservation point of view. The existing building has been significantly altered with modifications, extensions and renovations over the years.

The appeal was lodged in the names of John and Linda Heraghty and Others. The Heraghtys objected to the original application along with Joanna Sweeney, Josephine McCarthy, Catherine and Wayne Davis, and Mark and Finola Ripon. The planning inspector said that the grounds of appeal from local residents argued that the proposed houses would be “visually dominant and out of character with the prevailing residential development in the area”.

It was also suggested that the size and scale of the houses would give rise to residential amenity problems including overlooking and overshadowing.

The appeal also suggested that the proposed vehicular access arrangements could give rise to a significant traffic hazard at what was a busy junction because of insufficent sightlines.

The objectors contended that the provision of three storey dwellinghouses at the location was “wholly inappropriate and completely out of character with the surrounding established building heights” and that there were no similar three storey residential units located anywhere in the vicinity of the appeal site.

There were also concerns that first-floor rear balconies proposed on both houses would give rise to “an unacceptable level of overlooking”.

The inspector considered that the proposal “will give rise to little or no additional overshadowing over and above that associated with the existing site”.

“Any additional overshadowing that may occur, however small, needs to be balanced against the need to redevelop and regenerate existing derelict/vacant brownfield sites at higher densities to ensure the more efficient use of land and services in accordance with national policy.”

He was also of the opinion that “the vacant and somewhat unsightly derelict building currently constitutes an eyesore and detracts from the visual amenities of the area”. He considered the general area to be “a typical suburban, predominantly residential area on the outskirts of Sligo which incorporates no uniformity in house style and a variety of architectural styles and designs mainly from the mid to late 20th century”.

Also, Mr Caprani did not consider that there would be any additional traffic hazard.

Accepting the inspector’s recommendation to grant approval, An Bord Pleanala considered that having regard to the residential zoning pertaining to the site and the design, scale and siting of the proposed dwellings, that the development “would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would provide adequate levels of open space and would generally be acceptable in terms of pedestrian safety”.

A condition of the permission is that the proposed first floor balconies on the rear elevation of each house shall be bounded by obscure glazing/other obscure material to a height of 1.8 metres on all sides.