Way cleared for apartments on Clonmore site

The way has been cleared for the owner of the derelict Clonmore Shopping Centre (right) to proceed with the demolition of the building and to develop 17 apartments on the site. A number of parties appealed to An Bord Pleanála after Westmeath County Council’s grant of planning permission in July 2021 to Peadar Conlon, c/o MMA Architects Ltd, Athlone for the development.

The appellants stressed that they had no objection to the principle of the development and welcomed the regeneration of the site. However, they wanted amendments to the scale and quality of the proposed development.

An Bord Pleanála rejected the objections, and stated that subject to compliance with a set of 19 conditions, the development “would constitute an acceptable quantum and density of development” in what is an urban location.

The proposed development consists of demolition of the Clonmore Shopping Centre, a mixed-use building with four retail outlets on the ground floor and six first-floor apartments. The intention is to provide in its place a new three- and two-storey apartment building consisting of 17 two-bedroom apartments, car parking, bicycle spaces and bin storage, landscaping and all associated site works.

The inspector said there was a “significant” number of third-party objections to the proposed development from local residents. Their concerns were over the height of the proposed building, the density of the development; the lack of parking and open space and play areas. The point was also made that the design was not in keeping with the area, and there were concerns about overlooking.

Other points made were that the bin store and roof top might present anti-social behaviour concerns; that access through Newbrook Grove is inadequate to cater for the proposal; and there were fears that proximity to the junction could cause a traffic hazard.

The objections were lodged by the Newbrook and Clonmore Road Residents Association, the Clonmore Heights Residents Association, and Ken and Claire Glynn, c/o David Mooney, 14 Old Farm Road, Cloughjordan, County Tipperary.

In her report, the Bord Pleanála inspector said that the subject site, which measures 2,145 square metres, is within a residential area of Mullingar. Newbrook Road has single-storey detached dwellings fronting the site and Newbrook Grove consists of two-storey, semi-detached units. Clonmore Heights to the rear and west of the site consists of two-storey dwellings.

Stating that there is an existing vacant building on the subject site, which is two-storey and flat roofed, she said “the overall general appearance of the site is lifeless”.

The inspector said that one of the key goals set out in the National Planning Framework is to achieve compact growth. The proposed density of the development was 79 dwellings per hectare, but that, she noted, complied with national policy, “which seeks to increase residential density in settlements, through a range of measures including reductions in vacancy, reuse of existing buildings, infill development schemes, area or site-based regeneration and increased building heights”.

“The proposed high density does not compromise existing residential amenities and it represents a sustainable and efficient use of a strategic urban site reinforcing the compact residential growth of the Mullingar town centre adjacent to public transport links,” she wrote.

The overall height of the three-storey building is 9.215m reducing to two-storey 6.515m along Newbrook Grove, and peaking at the corner of both roads at 10 metres. The inspector said she did not consider the height to be overbearing or oppressive when viewed from the surrounding area.