Appeal to An Bord Pleanála over building plan at Clonmany Community Garden
The proposed construction of a new two-storey building comprising of toilets and storage on the ground floor and office space on the first floor in Clonmany has been met with objections by some local residents
An Bord Pleanála will rule on the development of a new community garden in Clonmany after objections were raised to a two-storey building as part of the plans.
The planning authority has received objections to the development, which was last month granted conditional planning permission by Donegal County Council, subject to 11 conditions.
Clonmany Enterprise Development Ltd are seeking to extend the existing community garden at Gaddyduff, Clonmany. The planning application says they want to develop a new children’s play park and to construct a new two-storey building comprising of toilets and storage on the ground floor and office space on the first floor.
An existing storage shed would be demolished to make way for the new building.
An artist's impression of the proposed building
Ms Bradley, in a submission to Donegal County Council, previously highlighted concerns over: nise and general disturbance; overshadowing and overbearing; lack of details regarding the management and operation of the facility; and the impact on the value of her property.
“I argue that the location of the two-storey structure with associated facilities is not appropriate and should be relocated to another part of the site away from my property,” Ms Bradley wrote.
“The proposed two-storey structure with a a height of 7.374m is located to the west of my amenity space and therefore loss of light and overshadowing of my amenity space will be significant. . . It is considered that the proposal would give rise to odour, noise and significant loss of residential amenity to my property in particular during festival times and other public events.”
Another submission, by John Bradley, also cited a number of concerns, including issues over possible flooding. He pointed to historical incidents of flooding on the site.
“In the past, one of these floods caused the closure of the funfair during the Clonmany Festival,” he said.
Mr Bradley said, in a detailed submission to the local authority, that the proposed new building would “tower over my mother’s single-storey kitchen building”.
“It is overpowering, overshadowing and overbearing,” he said.
Mr Bradley pointed out that there had been no public meetings on the matter and proposed that there should be: “a fully-fledged discussion within the community to bring forward a community-led plan, given that it is called the Clonmany Community Field Project.”
An Bord Pleanála expects to make a decision by the end of January, 2025.