Massive Portlaoise estate plans appealed to An Bord Pleanala

Plans to build a creche and 195 homes in Portlaoise have been appealed to An Bord Pleanala. 

Marina Quarter Ltd has been granted conditional permission to demolish four existing buildings and construct 195 homes, a creche with 68 places, 312 parking spaces and two ESB kiosks at Ballyroan, Portlaoise. 

The Large Scale Residential Development (LRD), which was approved subject to 26 conditions, will require a new access road which in turn will need a new roundabout and pedestrian crossing on the Dublin Road between the existing Block Road roundabout and Collier’s Lane roundabout. 

It would also see the removal of some trees and the new access road would effectively split the Rathgailine Estate in two. 

The planned 195 residential units are a mix of two, three and four bedroom houses. Some of the houses are semi detached and some are terraced. The plans also include a number of one bedroomed apartments.

In total there are 20 one bed apartments, 71 two bed houses, 96 three bed houses and eight four bedroomed houses in the plan. 

The plans allow for between 10 and 20 percent of the housing units to be available as affordable housing. 

The estate would be located two kilometres to the east of Portlaoise town centre off the Dublin Road on a 5.72 hectare site.  

Over a dozen submissions were made to the council in relation to the new development. They included concerns from residents in Hawthorn Drive, who felt the new estate would impact their privacy and reduce the amount of light in their estate and the Rathagailine estate, who expressed concerns about the road dividing their area. Many of the submissions didn’t object in principle to the development but wished to highlight their concerns. 

Chairman, Rathgailine Residents Association.  Michael McGrath wrote to the council on behalf of the residents.  

He noted the estate would be split in two and requested the connection between Rathgailine and Broomville be closed to ensure a “rat run” is not created and to prevent an increase in traffic in the estate from Broomville to Fieldbrook. Laois County Council approved the plans in early November subject to 26 conditions.

The plans were appealed to An Bord Pleanala by three different parties.  Shane and Karen Lawlor, Enda and Marie Kelly and DM Leavy. 

In his submission to Laois County Council, Mr Lawlor, a Sports Chiropractor operating Lawlor Clinic Spine & Sport on the Dublin Road, had expressed concern about pedestrian safety around his premises. He believed a new entrance may be required for his clinic if the plans were approved.   

In their submission to the council, Enda and Marie Kelly claimed they hadn’t given permission for part of their property at Cladybeg Cottage, Dublin Road, Portlaoise to be included in the planning application. 

D. M Leavy, who has an address at Proudstown, Navan, Co Meath made a submission to Laois County Council in relation to the access for the estate. In her submission to Laois County Council, D. M Leavy (Denise Leavy) claimed the Dublin Road was a busy regional road and therefore not appropriate for access to a creche and 195 residential units. She said a property designed, signalled T Junction should be installed on the road. 

The appeals were lodged with An Bord Pleanala on November 27. A final decision on the plans is expected to be made on March 26, 2024.