An Coimisiún Pleanála rules against appeal to Letterkenny school classrooms

An Coimisiún Pleanála has upheld Donegal County Council’s decision to grant retention planning permission for a Letterkenny school supporting children with learning disabilities to accommodate five modular classrooms. 

Donegal County Council had granted permission in August to St Bernadette’s Special School, College Farm Road, Letterkenny, for the retention of a single-storey modular standalone unit comprising two classrooms, which was completed in October 2023, along with the construction of two new single-storey modular standalone buildings to accommodate four classrooms.

St Bernadette's Special School caters for children aged from four years to 18 years of age, with mild to moderate learning disabilities, welcoming students from all over Donegal.

The school's proposals also included the provision of two secure play areas, the reconfiguration of the existing car parking area, and the removal of an existing modular building and all associated site development works. 

An appeal was submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála, highlighting concerns of traffic and transport, overdevelopment, the environment and ecology, and procedural issues.

The appeal argued that the site was accessed via a “substandard single-track road with a blind corner and no footpaths,” and that “increased traffic will have a detrimental effect on residents due to congestion, overspill, and public safety.”

It also contended that the parking plans were “inadequate” and further overspill was contrary to the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets.

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Plans were a “gross overdevelopment” that was “incompatible with the local residential environment,” and the proposals of the added classrooms were an “obvious increase in enrolment given that the school caters for all parts of Donegal.”

Senior Planning Inspector, Stephen Ward, noted that the traffic and transport implications of the proposed development were “the most substantive concerns raised” but that the “Commission should limit its consideration to the effects of the subject development itself rather than any pre-existing conditions.”

Mr Ward ultimately recommended that the development be retained subject to compliance, as it would “constitute an acceptable intensification of an established use at this location, would not detract from the character or amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience, and would not result in any significant environmental or ecological impacts.”

An Coimisiún Pleanála imposed a revised set of conditions on the project, including a condition in the interest of traffic safety and convenience, that “the development shall be amended by providing a widened vehicular entrance to safely and conveniently facilitate two-way traffic.”

Furthermore, prior to the commencement of development, the developer shall prepare a Resource Waste Management Plan and a Construction Environmental Management Plan.