Council grant planning permission for 129 home Kinnegad development

A proposed 129 home development in Kinnegad has been approved by Westmeath County Council planners subject to 24 conditions.

Last May Kildare based firm JH Kinnie Ltd submitted plans to the local authority planning office seeking to construct the houses along with childcare facilities on a 10-and-a-half acre site at Boreen Bradach, Kinnegad, Westmeath.

The development site is bounded by Boreen Bradach Road, Bun Daire estate, St Etchen’s National School and St Etchen’s Court.

The new Kinnegad estate will include two one-bed houses, 11 two-bed houses, 97 three-bed houses and 19 four-bed houses, ranging in height from one to two storey and including detached, semi-detached and terraced units.

The development will also feature 263 car parking spaces, to include 30 electric vehicles bays and capacity for 330 bicycle spaces. The approved planning covers the provision of public and private open spaces, landscaping, boundary treatments, waste management areas, and services provision.

The development will be located in close proximity to an early medieval enclosure site and associated burial ground, which were identified during a previous archaeological assessment.

There were a total of 28 private submissions on the file. Included in those submissions were a number of objections to the development.

Some submissions suggested the application was accompanied by a “flawed traffic management plan” and stated the belief that the increase in the number of the houses in the area would have a negative impact on pedestrian and cyclist safety, while the issue of sewerage capacity was also flagged in the submissions.

One submission pointed to the accelerated growth of the east Westmeath town: “The population in Kinnegad has increased by 20% in the last 10 years. The number of houses on the Boreen Bradach has increased from 30 approx, including the Kingsbury development, to over 100 by the creation of the Bun Dara development by Westmeath County Council.

“An increase of over 200% in the same period. This new proposal (129 houses + a crèche in 3 phases) will double the number of houses again to over 225 houses,” they said.

Other people who contacted the local authority planning office about the development expressed concern regarding a “loss of residential tranquillity”, the risk to children and elderly because of the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, congestion, and security.

The local authority granted permission this week, subject to 24 conditions.