Planning refused for Donegal Town housing development

The proposed development of four new houses close to a Donegal Town housing estate has been refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála.

A group of residents objected to a decision by Donegal County Council to grant conditional planning permission.

In a decision recently the planning authority said it wasn’t satisfied that the arrangements for the disposal of effluent are satisfactory or that the applicant has demonstrated that the site can be adequately drained.

“The proposed development would therefore be prejudicial to public health,” An Bord Pleanála said. The Board added that it could not be satisfied that the proposed development individually, or in combination with other projects, would not be likely to have a significant effect on European sites in the vicinity.

Applicant Felix Gillespie had sought to demolish a derelict house and outbuilding, remove an existing sub-structure house and to construct four two-storey houses on the site at Rossylongan.

In a submission, signed by 12 people, the Wilsons Creek Residents Association objected to the plans.

The group said it the development should not go ahead ‘due to a myriad of unresolved difficulties with existing sewerage on the estate and health and safety concerns relating to the quality of construction being laid’.

In 2000, planning permission was granted for 14 two-storey properties, ten of which were completed.

The residents group say that the estate road was incomplete for many years and the services were not maintained.

“The sewage and water waste system is circa 22 years old and was not maintained by the previous developer,” they wrote.

The group pointed out that the planning authority previously requested that a ‘maximum of three residential units’ would be suitable for the site in question.

The objection said: “The proposed house designs are not in keeping with the existing properties and such a development would have the consequential result of impacting visually on the overall estate. The proposed development is out-of-scale and character in terms of appearance compared with the existing development.”

Wilsons Creek Residents Association branded the proposed installation of further sewage systems as ‘preposterous’. The group sought a report on the sewage system from a third party company, who noted that the current system has not been certified.

The residents said: “We find it astonishing that planning permission was granted on several occasions after the initial sewage installation without sampling results or certification being provided.

“Residents will attest that a strong foul odour can be experienced on most days, particularly throughout the summer months.”