An Bord Pleanála rejects Rossnowlagh housing development footpath amendment

An Bord Pleanála rejected a developer’s appeal to not provide pedestrian facilities from a 15-house development in Rossnowlagh to the village centre, as required by planning permission dating back to 2012.

The appeal for the site at Breezy Point was rejected by An Bord Pleanála on May 7, despite the Inspector’s Report seemingly siding with the appellant, Breezy Point Capital Ltd.

Developers of Breezy Point, which has houses that sell for over €500,000, to complete the 15-house development without providing a footpath and street lighting from the site, which is in the northern part of Rossnowlagh, to the village centre as required by a condition attached to a previous planning permission in 2012.

The proposed amendment had been rejected by Donegal County Council on July 18, 2024, partly due to the reasoning that the proposed application, if permitted, “would create potential for conflict between pedestrians and vehicles within Rossnowlagh.”

Breezy Point Capital Ltd argued in their appeal that the condition to provide the footpath and street lighting was “not reasonable or enforceable due to the cost of providing the path,” and that “the cost of doing so should not fall disproportionately on them.”

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Rossnowlagh, according to the appeal, did not have “a discernible village centre for the development to connect with.”

The Planning Inspector, Trevor A. Rue, wrote on April 9 that the proposed development amendment “would provide for satisfactory levels of pedestrian safety, would not give rise to the creation of a traffic hazard and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”

However, in making their decision, An Bord Pleanála decided not to accept the Inspector’s recommendation. They concluded that vomiting the condition for a footpath and street lighting “would be contrary to the objective of Donegal County Development Plan 2024-2030, to support the renewal and development of towns and villages, and to support communities in positive placemaking in a sustainable manner.”

An Bord Pleanála commented further that the proposed amendments “would create potential for conflict between pedestrians and vehicles.”