Eighteen-storey building was one option considered for massive Tullamore development

A MUCH taller building was originally proposed for the former Tesco/Quinnsworth site in Tullamore.

Plans unveiled last week by developer Cayenne Holdings for 204 apartments and a commercial complex include a 13-storey block on the disused land behind Patrick Street.

However, planning documents reveal the project now being considered by Offaly County Council is substantially lower in height than an earlier draft.

Meetings were held with County Council officials in November, 2022 and July, 2023 and the local authority planners expressed concern about the scale of the scheme.

The height, design, and scale of the initial proposed buildings were considered “unacceptable” to Tullamore town centre.

In response, the development company, which is headed up by local businessman Seamus Kane, said the current proposal “sees a significant reduction in the height of the scheme as a whole”.

Previously, there were plans for blocks ranging in height from two to 12 storeys with one building rising to 18 storeys.

Despite the reduction of the tallest building to 13 storeys (43.6 metres/143 feet), the council told the developer it remained concerned about height.

The council said blocks up to 13 storeys high would be “completely overbearing and detract substantially from the town”.

The scheme planned was deemed “grossly with out of scale with the streetscape of Tullamore” and its scale “totally out of context with the existing built fabric of the town and would dwarf existing structures streets and surrounding public realm”.

The developer responded strongly, saying “on the contrary that the proposals will be recognised as having the potential to transform the town centre of Tullamore by breathing much needed new life (both daytime and evening) in to an area that is clearly in decline”.

Permission is being sought for six buildings in all. The tallest will be 11-13 storeys, another will be eight storeys, two more will be between five and six storeys and the final two will be two to three storeys.

“The taller building is carefully designed and articulated so as to help assimilate it in to the townscape of Tullamore. It reads from certain vantage points as being 11 and 13 storeys in height due to the way in which the form of the building is presented,” a planning consultant for the developer said.

The developer also pointed out that the site is one of two in Tullamore town centre which has been designated by the council as suitable for tall buildings of at least six storeys. The other one is at the canal harbour.

The council also expressed concern about density and the mix of housing planned for the residential element of the scheme, saying 204 apartments is too many for the site, and the number of one-beds, 104, was too high.

Cayenne argued that the residential density proposed is lower when the balance of the whole area (where an Aldi store is being built in an entirely separate project) is included.

The developer detailed that along with 102 one-beds, there will be 80 four-person two-beds, 11 three-person two-beds and 11 three-beds.

“The scheme provides exclusively apartment units which are lacking in the offering of housing type in the town at present. The apartment units will add to the housing stock in the town and help diversify housing stock to help cater to varying housing needs and desires,” the council was told.

“This is consistent with Planning Policy objectives which encourage the diversification and densification of housing stock... For an urban key town of Tullamore, the number of apartment units is low when compared to the national average... there is demand for smaller units due to declining household sizes which this proposal will modestly address through its provision of 3.6% of the current housing stock.”

The council had further concerns about parking spaces for both residents and people using the commercial units.

The developer plans to provide 92 spaces for the 204 apartments and said that meeting the maximum standard would require 306 spaces.

The developer said there are more than 3,200 spaces within 500 metres: “Within this figure, we estimate that 900 of these spaces are public street parking with the remainder designated parking areas. With regard to car parking provision, we encourage the planning authority to acknowledge the ongoing climate crisis and consider that a reduced car parking provision in central locations within large towns and cities must be incorporated within all developments.”

Shops, cafes and restaurants are planned for the development and Cayenne says there is a significant quantity of existing publicly accessible car parking spaces within the town centre.