Council approval for sound barrier on planned Hospice site

Offaly County Council has granted approval for the construction of a three-metre-tall sound barrier around the western and northern boundaries of the planned 20-bed Midlands Hospice at Arden Lane in Tullamore.

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 has now granted permission for the development to proceed subject to seven conditions.

One such condition calls on the developer to implement a "buffer area of 20 metres around the recorded ringfort–rath" at the development site.

The local authority stipulated that no ground works "shall be carried out within the buffer area, including boundary works, landscaping or ground reduction".

Offaly County Council also stated in its planning judgement that work on the site shall be stopped "should archaeological material be found during the course of works."

This, the local authority said, is "to ensure the continued preservation of places, caves, sites, features or other objects of archaeological interest".

Planning permission for the specialist Level 3 hospice was granted by the local authority 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.