Heritage Council objects to high-rise project

Plans for a large residential and commercial development, which would rise to 13 storeys in the heart of Tullamore, have drawn an objection from The Heritage Council.

The project known as The Distillery Yard, at the former Tesco site on Patrick Street, has been devised by local businessman Seamus Kane.

A planning application was submitted to Offaly County Council last month for the development, which would include 204 apartments across four blocks, along with a childcare facility and 20 commercial premises.

The Heritage Council expressed a number of reservations about the impact of the project in a recent submission to the county council.

The organisation said it was concerned about the impact to the streetscape and visual character of the urban area.

The Heritage Council said Tullamore was "a typical county town in an Irish context," but that the design of The Distillery Yard development, "by virtue of its mass, height, bulk, and scale" was "completely inappropriate" for a typical Irish county town.

The Heritage Council submission was signed by its Head of Conservation, Ian Doyle, and was received by Offaly County Council earlier this month.

It noted that the proposed development ranged in height from two storeys to 13 storeys, and that the proposed buildings were intended to be of "large scale compared to the small scale of some of the buildings" that surround the site.

"The approach is clear insofar as the development seeks to 'represent a new paradigm', and it will undoubtedly be visible from a long distance across the townscape," the Heritage Council submission stated.

"Whilst this forthrightness is acknowledged, the Heritage Council does consider the premise of the design approach for this inner town core development site to be fundamentally flawed.

"How this new development presents itself to the existing townscape, particularly in relation to the height, scale, and massing of the new build elements, cannot be supported on heritage grounds."

The planning application for the development argued that it will make a significant and positive difference to the town.

The Heritage Council agreed that the "magnitude of change" which the project would bring would be significant, but it argued that the impact would not be positive.

"The visual change to Tullamore will be significantly negative, irrespective of the intention, and shows little regard for the existing townscape character and its evolution; therefore setting an undesirable precedent, that if replicated, would significantly alter, and damage the historic integrity of our county towns and rural market towns," it stated.

The site of the development takes in a protected structure, the D.E. Williams house, and its stone former distillery.

The Heritage Council said the refurbishment of these buildings, particularly the rear stone building, was "welcomed in principle" but it argued that certain clarifications or design alterations would be needed in order to comply fully with objectives contained in the current Offaly Development Plan.

Its submission concluded that the proposed development, would set a "very undesirable precedent for inner town core redevelopment in historic towns throughout Ireland," and, therefore, "the Heritage Council does not support the scheme as currently proposed".

Other submissions in relation to the project have been received in recent days from Tullamore & District Chamber Of Commerce, Donough Cahill, and Guy Clothing and Kode Clothing & Footwear. At the time of writing, however, these submissions were not yet available to view on the county council's website.

The local authority is due to decide on the planning application by Tuesday, April 2.