Goahead for new Laois filling station but not for supermarket in small town
Demolition and rebuild of Durrow filling station approved by Laois planners
Approval has just been granted to demolish a service station in Durrow, Laois, and replace it with a bigger station and small shop, instead of a supermarket that was initially planned in the development.
Durrow which gained national tourist attention for its Scarecrow festival, is going to get an enlarged service station, following approval by Laois County Council to applicant and Laois businessman Oliver Stanley.
It is on the site of a small closed up station, which Mr Stanley bought from Laois County Council in 2023 next to Durrow fire station and close to the River Nore.
Mr Stanley who owns the Texaco filling station on the Cork Road in Durrow, applied for planning approval in September 2025 to knock the old station and build a larger one along with a supermarket of 2,380sq metres.
The planners were not happy with some aspects of the plan, and asked for a lot of reports in order to make their decision.
The applicant then altered his plan to omit the supermarket and reduce the planned station size, an option that has been approved this July.
“It is now proposed to reduce the extent of land use development within the current outline application site. The applicant following consultation with Laois County Council, now proposes to omit the supermarket proposal and all supermarket related infrastructure from the current application.
“In addition, it is also proposed to remove two of the proposed vehicular access points from the adjacent road network. These being the vehicular access from the N77 within the posted 100kph speed zone and the vehicular access from the R434. 3.4 As such, the only land use assessed within this traffic report is the proposed filling station with access from within the N77 Durrow urban speed limit environs.
“The proposed petrol filling station will replace a former petrol filling station on this site which was previously accessed from the N77 by means of 2 simple priority junction arrangements. The proposed development would consist of the following land uses: A 4-pump petrol filling station and canopy. A retail building of 295sq metres. 21 customer and staff parking space and 10 bicycle spaces”.
The 1.210 hectare site has a former petrol filling station which closed in late 2008 along with rough lands located towards the north of Durrow, at the corner of the N77 and
The planners had said that a service station on the site was “not appropriate” because part of the land was zoned as residential for future housing, and another part had no zoning.
They asked him to submit a Retail Impact Assessment and a Traffic Impact Assessment.
They noted that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) had “serious concerns” about intensifying the business entrance off a National road. They said it would endanger public safety because its scale would distract passing drivers.
They asked for a Road Safety Audit and a Technical Assessment report signed off by the TII, as well as a road signage and marking layout, a swept path analysis for cars and refuse trucks, and to revise the layout to comply with setback of the entrances from the road.
The council planners had noted that Laois County Council owns part of the site and wanted a letter from the authority giving consent for the development. The planners also asked for details on how surface water and storm water was going to be drained.
Lastly they said that “having regard to the sites proximity to the River Barrow and River Nore Special Area of Conservation, the applicant is requested to submit an Appropriate Assessment Screening Report. “