Breaking: An Bord Pleanála announces Clonminch housing project decision

A massive 350-house development earmarked for Clonminch which attracted over 60 submissions has been refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála because it is “dominated by roads” resulting a “poor design concept for the site”.

Steinfort Investments Fund had applied for planning approval back in August for over 350 homes as part of the controversial fast-track Strategic Housing Development process, which allows large residential developments to bypass the local authority and go straight to An Bord Pleanála for a final verdict.

The plan was for a development of 358 housing units on a circa 14.3 hectare site at Clonminch and Gayfield, Clonminch Road, Tullamore, some 2km from Tullamore town centre, along with a neighbourhood centre which could house shops, cafes etc, a park, and civic plaza.

However, the board order ruled that the design of the proposed Link Street, linking Clonminch Road/R443 to the west and Chancery Lane to the north, is “substandard in terms of its horizontal alignment and fails to have adequate regard to its strategic function” and to the provisions of the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets, issued by the Department of Transport.

It was also considered the proposed residential development was “dominated by roads and surface car parking” resulting in a “poor design concept for the site that is substandard in its form and layout” failing to establish a sense of place, and being of “poor quality” urban and architectural design.