Planning granted to develop 'prominent' north Mayo town building

Planning permission has been given by Mayo County Council to develop a former commercial building located on a prominent corner in Ballina into apartments.

The applicant, Greg Connolly was granted planning permission for the change of use of an existing two storey commercial building on the corner of Kevin Barry Street and James Connolly Street to residential use and to develop two one bedroom apartment units.

It is proposed that the ground floor unit will consist of a 11.437 square metre bedroom along with a kitchen/dining/living room along with a bathroom and study while the first floor unit will be of similar size and design.

The building which is currently vacant is located at a prominent location on the junction of James Connolly Street and Kevin Barry Street on the main Foxford road into Ballina.

Although irregularly shaped due to its location, the architects section of Mayo County Council stated that it will accommodate two one-bedroom apartments.

However, due to its prominent location, the architects stated that it is important that the visual impact of the building is carefully considered.

They considered that the proposed external window arrangement to be poorly resolved and 'results in a negative visual impact, particularly onto Kevin Barry Street'. They sought that these elevations should be re-designed to achieve a 'better visual impact at this prominent location'.

The applicant submitted revised elevational drawings for the development and a report returned by council architects stated that there is no objection to the revisions and recommended planning permission is granted.

Planners for Mayo County Council stated that they reviewed the content of the further information response and reports returned by the applicant and considered that all matters are satisfactorily addressed. As a result, planning permission was granted for the proposed development subject to ten planning conditions.