Offaly council planners on collision course with residents
IN a move which could put it on a collision course with local residents, Offaly County Council has recommended that a proposed new housing development in Tullamore should have vehicular links with neighbouring estates.
Council planners have turned down a plan from Capital Homes for 80 houses on the Clara Road and further information has been sought from the developer for 90 houses and eight apartments on another part of the same site.
Local development company Capital Homes sought consent in June to build the houses and apartments in what is known locally as Kearney's Field.
The 90 houses, 58 of which would be three-beds, plus a three-storey block comprising the apartments, a remote working hub and a gym, make up another phase of an overall scheme which already includes Redwood, some of which is already occupied.
A decision from the council was due on July 31 but instead the planning authority sought further information on that date, telling the developer that there must be connections, “vehicular, pedestrian and cycling”, at Knockowen Road, Arden Heights and Oaklee.
Meanwhile, the council refused permission last week for a separate phase of 80 houses following an application from Capital Homes on July 12.
The first reason for the refusal was the lack of any connections with the existing adjoining housing estates.
In a report on the application, the council's executive planner noted that several objectors to the 80 houses sought “to close existing and the proposed housing estates off from one another”.
He added: “I note this is contrary to national and county policy.”
The planning authority said that having just one entrance from the Clara Road to the entire scheme is inadequate.
The council previously gave the go-ahead for a total of 107 houses at Redwood, a small number of which front onto the Clara Road.
Numerous residents of the road have expressed concern about increased traffic volumes which would be triggered by further new residential development.
There has also been difficulty with proposals for construction access to the site, with the developer's plan to demolish an existing house on the Clara Road now appealed to An Bord Pleanala, and an enforcement notice issued by the council in relation to a separate entrance nearby.