Planning refused for hostel in north Louth

Louth County Council has refused retained planning permission for the change of use from a B&B to a hostel in Carlingford.

Visit Carlingford Limited had applied in July of this year for the development, which comprised the change of use from a B&B to a hostel, as well as alterations to external facades, and all associated site development works.

The local planning authority made the decision on 14 October to refuse planning permission, saying in its Chief Executive's Order that, "having regard to the size of the existing building relative to the use, scale and internal configuration of the hostel use which it is proposed to retain, the Planning Authority is not satisfied, on the basis of the plans and particulars submitted with this application and pursuant to a site inspection that the retention of a hostel use that caters for 75 people would provide for a satisfactory level of amenity to serve the future residential of the hostel."

It added that "The proposed development would be substandard and would result in an over intensification of the use of the existing building which would, in turn, have an adverse impact on the amenities of the surrounding area. 

"Therefore, to permit the retention of this change of use to a hostel would be contrary to policy objective TOU 33 and Chapter 13.15.1 of the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027, as varied, and would set an undesirable precedent for other similar substandard tourist accommodation developments in the area."