Appeal lodged over Bundoran housing development

An Bord Pleanála will rule on a major housing development in Bundoran.

Donegal County Council had granted conditional planning permission for the development at Church Road in July. McHenry Asset Holdings Limited had sought permission for the construction of 73 new houses on the site.

However, local resident Mark Picken has lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, who will now probe the case.

Mr Picken, in an appeal submitted in late July, argued that the application was initially invalid as the applicant had applied for developmant on lands that were not within the applicant’s control.  Subsequently, the applicant submitted new drawings with a different site boundary.

Mr Picken pointed out some knock-on effects to an amended proposal.

He said the site entrance would be ‘more difficult for vehicular traffic to find as it is practically sandwiched between my dwelling and the proposed dwelling on site no. 9’.

“There is an issue with speeding along this section of road and residents have had to erect their own signage,” he wrote.

An issue over a laneway adjacent to Mr Picken’s house was raised with the objector saying half of the laneway could now be left ‘as a kind of no mans land with no clear proposal for how that is to be finished’.

He has sought revised designs for some of the proposed houses that would overlook his property and has sought improvements on the access road to have a more visual impact for drivers on the main road.

“I believe the improvements I am requesting to be made to the scheme design are not unreasonable,” Mr Picken wrote.

McHenry Asset Holdings Limited proposed to demolish two houses and associated sheds that are on the site. The applicant sought permission to develop 73 houses in a mix of 29 detected houses and 44 semi-detached two-storey three-bed houses. The application provided two vehicular entrances onto Church Road.

A decision in the case is due by December 4, 2023.