Goahead for housing estate in Laois accessed via neighbouring estates

A new estate of 43 houses is to be built in a Laois town, following approval of a contentious planning application.

The privately built estate in Ballycullenbeg Mountmellick will have 11 homes of 2 bedrooms, 26 with three bedrooms, and six with four bedrooms.

The 5.9 acre field is owned by the applicant and developer, Kilkenny Investment Property Holdings Ltd.

With no access from main roads, its road and cycle/footpath entrances will instead be through Grange Hall, Grange Manor and Willow Grove housing estates.

Submissions made against the application include one from well known environmental legal expert Peter Sweetman.

Mr Sweetman from Wild Irish Defence CLG in county Clare, said in his submission that Laois County Council did not have legal jurisdiction to approve the application, because he said it lacked the following information.

“Complete, precise and definitive findings and conclusions capable of removing all reasonable scientific doubt as to the effects of the works proposed on the protected site concerned.”

Willow Grove residents had submitted an objection. Their council estate is in Acragar, and backs onto the site of the new development.

Laois planners themselves had asked the developer to open a new cycle/walkway to connect to Willow Grove.

“We wish to strongly object. We are concerned about people using it as a shortcut to the schools on Davitt Road, SuperValu, pharmacy, the primary care centre, doctors surgery and other businesses.

“There are approximately 628 houses in the vicinity of Grange Hall,” she said listing Grange Hall, Grange Manor, Harbour Street, Bay View, Silver Wood, Silver Glen, Kirwan Park and Cullenbeg.

“The real problem is that it can facilitate anti-social behaviour. There is a real fear of crime, drug dealing, burglary, trespassing, noise disturbance and interference of the privacy of our neighbourhood. Risk of loitering, vandalism and rubbish dumping.

“The layout creates concealed zones and unmonitored escape corridors that directly facilitate criminality,” the residents said, also predicting “break-ins, property damage and dog fouling”.

Cllr Paddy Bracken in a submission said he totally supports the objection by Willow Grove residents of the walkway.

“It will create anti-social behaviour and be of no gain to anyone,” Cllr Bracken said.

Laois planners noted their concerns.

“Notwithstanding such concerns, both the Planning Authority and Road Design Section are keen for the linkages to be facilitated in the interests of optimizing active travel opportunities from the proposed development to likely key local destination points such as the primary schools campus on Davitt Road due south,” the planners said.

Another objection was made by a resident of the newly built Grange Manor, asking for more information about a water retention area, and for planning conditions to ensure that residential amenities, public safety and environmental quality would be upheld.

A “detention basin” is planned, a wide, shallow hollow in the land that will temporarily hold rainwater, but be otherwise water free and usable as public open space.

The Laois planners had asked for further information.

This resulted in the change of the access road, from Grange Hall to the newly built Grange Manor beside it. There will be a pedestrian path only from Grange Hall into the new estate.

There will be raised tables for traffic calming, five visitor parking spaces, two with EV chargers and 18 cycle racks.

The application was approved on October 26, with a four week period to follow for any of the objectors to appeal An Coimisiún Pleanála.