Decision made on ambitious planning application by Longford’s Fox Brothers

A decision has been made to refuse planning permission for 3 proposed industrial / storage / manufacturing units on a site in Saintjohnstown, Longford Road in Ballinalee. 

The application was submitted by the Ballinalee-based family carpentry business, The Fox Brothers Ltd, the director of which was listed on the application as Colm Fox.  

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Permission had originally been sought for the 3 units in addition to a new vehicular entrance, internal access road, boundary fences/walls, proposed connection to the existing wastewater network and all associated site development works. 

In refusing the application, Longford County Council wrote that the proposed development would be considered “out of character with the established pattern of development in the area, and would, if permitted, set an undesirable precedent for similar development on rural un-zoned lands.”

They added that “the development would therefore be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.”

The industrial units had originally been proposed with a view to one of the units becoming a new base for the rapidly growing business.

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When first seeking planning permission for the development, the engineer overseeing the proposal, Mark Cunningham, explained that the applicants were currently operating out of a rented industrial unit in the Longford town area and that it was their intention to relocate the business to one of the proposed units.

Mr Cunningham wrote that this would, “in turn create employment in the locality and support local businesses, etc.” 

A letter submitted by Ciaran Fox, who was also listed as a director of Fox Brothers Ltd, outlined the necessity for the units. 

Mr Fox stated that the company had been supplying carpentry and building services within the construction industry for over 30 years, and added that demands for their services were “at all-time high” with “partners like Kingspan Century outsourcing part of their workload to us due to our experience, knowledge and expertise in Timber Frame construction.”

He said the company was currently looking to expand this section of the business adding that “a facility for storage of plant and machinery, materials and office space are much needed requirements for our business to continue to grow, create employment and meet the demands of the current growth in the construction industry.”

Also included in the application were letters submitted by Davis Auctioneers and Kingspan, both in support of the proposed development.

There were no objections to the planning application.

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In their notice of refusal, Longford County Council stated that the applicant had “failed to demonstrate with supporting documentation a site-specific need for the proposed industrial development at this location.” 

They added that “the proposed development given its location, scale and nature is considered to be contrary to the County Development Plan where development of an industrial nature should be located within designated and serviced enterprise and employment zoned lands unless otherwise justified.” 

The Fox Brothers now have a 4 week time frame in which to appeal the decision if they so wish.

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