Planning board confirms appeal lodged against Midlands Hospice approval
An Coimisiún Pleanála has confirmed an appeal has been lodged against planning permission for the Midlands Hospice development on Arden Lane, Tullamore.
The planning board’s website lists the appellant as Tom Martin, and states the appeal was lodged on January 20 last.
A decision is now due on the appeal by May 25.
Offaly County Council granted planning permission for the construction of the hospice for the Midlands on a site at Arden Lane in Tullamore, on December 31, subject to 15 planning conditions.
The move followed a landmark decision of all 19 elected members of Offaly County Council at their meeting on December 15 to vote to amend the Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027 to facilitate the development of the hospice.
The HSE submitted a planning application in April last for a 20-bed hospice on a site on Arden Lane, Tullamore, complete with ancillary services, including a Day Therapy Unit and an education centre, with council planners seeking further information on the project a month later, and then seeking clarification on the further information in October.
Details of the grounds of appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála had yet, at the time of writing, to be uploaded to Offaly County Council’s planning website.
Mr Martin, from Arden Vale, Tullamore, a trustee of Tullamore Pitch and Putt Club, however, lodged a submission seeking a refusal of planning permission for the Arden Lane proposal during the local authority planning phase
He declared his full support for a dedicated hospice in the Midlands, however he requested Offaly County Council refuse planning permission on a number of grounds; that it was procedurally invalid; infrastructurally undeliverable; zoned incorrectly; compromises existing community facilities; places undue burden on the taxpayer and fails national and local planning policy tests.
He added that such refusal “would not hinder the delivery of a hospice” but would ensure it is delivered “properly, lawfully and sustainably, in the right location, with infrastructure and community support from the outset”.