An Coimisiún Pleanála overturns granted permission for Mountcharles apartments

An Coimisiún Pleanála has overturned a Donegal County Council decision that granted conditional planning permission to build three two-bedroom apartments in Mountcharles in a building extension.

The proposed plan was to build an extension to the rear of the existing building, which has a takeaway restaurant on the ground floor, on Main Street, Mountcharles. The extension was to total 236 sq.m in total. 

Planning had been granted for the application, and its developer, Jan Mulla, by Donegal County Council in August 2024, however, this decision was appealed by local residents.

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Paul Caprani, Planning Commissioner of An Coimisiún, signed for the proposed development to be refused permission a year later in August 2025.

Third-party observations by appellants against the proposals felt the scale of the development would overlook existing properties and have a “significant negative impact on privacy.”

There were also doubts expressed about fire escape safety and sufficient street parking space, and about the capacity of the current sewer system.  

The applicant did not give a response to any of the points of order raised in the grounds of appeal. 

In the Inspector’s Report, drawn up by Claire McVeigh, she raised her concerns about the “quality of residential accommodation proposed within the scheme as a totality, taking into account the lack of detail submitted in respect to the existing residential development.”

It was considered in the Commission Order  that the proposed development would “seriously injure the residential amenities of the adjoining property by reason of significant visual obtrusion and overbearing.”

A second reason for the refusal of permission was that the ‘daylight/sunlight study’ submitted with the application was “not sufficient to allow a determination whether the impact of the proposed development would result in a significant adverse impact on the residential amenities of the adjacent residential properties by reason of daylight/sunlight impacts.”