Appeal against hospice project formally withdrawn

The planning appeals board, An Coimisiún Pleanála, has confirmed the withdrawal of a third-party appeal against the decision of Offaly County Council to grant planning permission for the construction of a Midlands Specialist Palliative Care Unit (Hospice) on a greenfield site at Arden Lane in Tullamore.

The appeal was lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála by the appellant, Tom Martin, with an address at 105. Arden Vale in Tullamore, on January 20.

The capacity in which Mr. Martin made his appeal was as a Trustee of Tullamore Pitch & Putt Club and as a co-legal owner of the impacted lands. The grounds of his appeal included prematurity, procedural defect, fragmentation of development, inadequate infrastructure, invalid public notice and failure of proper planning and sustainable development.

The third-party appeal was withdrawn on January 23.

All 19 elected members of Offaly County Council voted at their meeting on December 15 last in favour of a proposal to materially contravene the Offaly County Development Plan to facilitate the development of a Midlands Regional Hospice at Arden Lane.

The Offaly planning authority formally granted planning approval to the HSE for the construction of the facility on New Year's Eve, December 31 last, which will have 20 inpatient beds, complete with ancillary services, including a Day Therapy Unit and an education centre.