Decision on Hospice acoustic sound barrier plan due next month

The outcome of a planning application submitted by the HSE for a three-metre-tall sound barrier around the western and northern boundaries of the planned 20-bed Midlands Hospice at Arden Lane in Tullamore will be known in early October.

A planning application for the acoustic barrier and associated landscaping works was lodged by the HSE with Offaly County Council on May 7.

A request for the HSE to provide further information on the proposed development was issued by the local authority at the start of September.

Offaly County Council expressed concerns with the “visual impact of the proposed three-metre-high acoustic barrier” and called on the HSE to provide further information regarding the “proposed development’s link to the unbuilt but permitted Hospice building”.

In its response, the HSE confirmed that the proposed works include “landscaping to screen the acoustic barrier along the western and northern boundaries of the site from views from the pitch and putt club” beside which the Hospice development will be constructed.

“It is proposed to offset the screen within the site boundary to allow sufficient space to plant a new hedgerow along the field side and also install a new hedgerow to provide visual screening of the acoustic barrier from the site,” the HSE said.

The HSE also stated that an aluminium acoustic screen fence in “powder-coated dark green” will be erected on site and the colour of the barrier “should minimise its visual impact on users of the pitch and putt club”.

The HSE also confirmed in its response for further information from Offaly County Council that as the Hospice planning application had not yet been granted at the time it submitted its planning application, it “could not be referenced in our initial submission”

“The Hospice was granted approval by An Coimisiún Pleanála on May 29,” the HSE said.

The HSE stated that the “proposed acoustic barrier” is “in response to concerns raised by a neighbour and through a third-party observation and third-party appeal in relation to the Hospice planning application”.

"The proposed acoustic barrier is intended to further enhance the acoustic environment of the Hospice site by providing an additional noise attenuation measure and mitigating potential noise impacts,” the HSE confirmed.

Planning permission for the specialist Level 3 hospice was granted by the council at the start of 2026, and the Government has committed €24 million in capital funding towards the development.

An appeal against the local authority’s planning approval was submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála by Condron Concrete.

At the time Condron Concrete Managing Director, John Condron, said there had been “a lot of negotiations” with the HSE and that an “agreement” between both parties had been reached.

“We have come to an agreement with the HSE to put in an acoustic wall, extra landscaping and a fountain with water falling sounds to mitigate the impact of noise emissions on the hospice,” Mr Condron stated.

An Coimisiún Pleanála cited 14 conditions when granting planning approval for the Midlands Hospice, none of which referenced the need to install an acoustic sound barrier as part of the construction phase of the development.

The commission’s planning inspector said the appeal failed to identify a “substantiated noise-based reason” either to overturn the grant of permission or to demonstrate why an acoustic barrier is required.

A decision on the HSE’s planning bid for the acoustic sound barrier is due on or before Tuesday, October 6.