Planning refused for Letterkenny apartments amid residents' concerns

Planning permission has been refused for a five-storey apartment building in Letterkenny.

Existing residents in the Rann Mor area of the town feared the development of a “ghetto”.

Donegal County Council received numerous objections to the proposed development and the local authority has ruled against granting permission.

George Doherty Construction (IRL) Ltd had sought permission for the construction of an apartment building that would have included: 12 one-bedroom, two-person apartments; 13 two-bedroom, three-person apartments; internal circulation routes, ancillary and communal rooms; and 36 car parking spaces.

The application provided for all associated site works including an extension of the existing public footpath network.

In refusing planning permission, Donegal County Council said that development on the site “particularly the scale of the development proposed, is premature”.

The local authority noted that it has not been demonstrated that surface water can be successfully managed within the proposed development.

The subject site, Council planners added, is within the settlement framework for Letterkenny on lands zoned as ‘established development’. 

In regard to the overall sitting and location, the constrained and restricted nature of the site on “steeply sloping lands”, the Council said that giving the green light to the project could “constitute the disorderly over development of the constrained plot”.

In explaining its reasoning, the Council said it could set an “undesirable and unsustainable precedent” that would be: “contrary to the proper planning and orderly development of the area by reason of injury to the privacy, amenity and value of adjoining properties, the paucity of shared open space serving the proposed apartments and the excessive physical footprint relative to plot ratio”.

Residents of Rann Mor Walk submitted an objection, signed by 24 people, who cited a series of concerns.

They included the possible negative impact on the character and appearance of Rann Mor.

They wrote: “The high density of this development combined with the lack of open space will simply create a ghetto and lead to anti-social behaviour in what has always been a very quiet family orientated residential estate.”

Residents also cited concerns over: impact on the environment; impact on traffic and transportation; negative impact on neighbouring properties; lack of provision of additional amenities for the highly increased population in the area.

They outlined that one road “cannot facilitate the present volume of traffic let alone cope with the additional volume for the residents and also those from neighbouring estates”.

Other residents made submissions to the Council with one saying:  “Children struggle to walk on the footpath and play with their friends as it is, adding more cars to this will be a huge concern for their safety, not to mention all the lorries and workmen vans/vehicles while this building is under construction. It’s very worrying and unsafe.”

Another person pointed out that if the population of the Crievesmith and Lismonaghan areas were to increase to almost 2,500 it would be “one of the largest population areas in the county, surpassing many other large towns.” 

“Despite this,” the resident said, “the area has no school facilities, parks, community spaces or proper footpaths and crossings for safe pedestrian access into Letterkenny town.”

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The developer can appeal to An Bord Pleanála.