Green light to build Laois house in back garden despite neighbours' objections

Laois County Council has approved permission to build a house in a back garden in Mountmellick, despite objections by neighbours on both sides.

A derelict stone outbuilding is to be converted into a two storey house, in the back yard of a two storey terraced cottage on Park Street at Irishtown roundabout, home to applicants Martin and Bernadette Nolan.

The cottage is one of a row of Protected Structures.

Neighbour Alastair Pim of Anngrove Stud Farm had objected on the grounds that the new house would be "wholly inappropriate" as it would be "in very close proximity" to the yards and paddocks which are used for bloodstock for thoroughbred racing horses. 

He also noted that when his late father David Pim sold two cottages to the applicants, "it was agreed and stipulated that no construction would take place at this location on the property".

Also objecting was neighbour Anthony Booth, resident of the bungalow next door who said "I have lived here for 30 years and there has never been a building beside me".

He said it would result in loss of privacy and loss of light. He said that a planned removal of a stone boundary wall will make stone walls unstable. 

Mr Booth queried site access, saying that during previous construction work, the applicant had brought heavy lorries onto his lawn and "Gardaí had to be called".

He said that a previous planning condition of supplying a rear carpark was never fulfilled and should be done first. He also claimed that the applicant uses Mr Booth's right of way for private and agricultural use.

The approval was only given however after the applicants amended their plan greatly on request by the planners and supplied further information.

The couple had initially sought permission to demolish most of a derelict stone outbuilding to construct a modern townhouse.

However the planners said the bulk and scale of that house would have a "detrimental affect" on the curtilage of the protected cottage.

They said the design was "of an insufficient quality" and quoted the Architectural Heritage Impact Assessment which described "a bland, almost featureless elevation facing the existing dwellings".

They suggested that the stone building be instead converted as the dwelling, rather than be demolished.

They also queried its future use and asked for garden sizes to be confirmed and a landscaping plan.

The plan was then altered by applicants to reduce the size of the house, with main windows facing away from neighbours, and a rear parking plan for six vehicles to serve the two existing houses and the new houses. 

It received conditional approval in January 2024.