Planning refused for Letterkenny town centre apartment block

Plans for the development of an apartment block just off Letterkenny Main Street have had to be shelved.

It comes after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for the proposed development at Rosemount Lane.

Millennium Unit Trust 105 appealed a 2022 decision by Donegal County Council to refuse permission, but An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision of the local authority.

The developer had sought planning permission for the demolition of two dwellings and other derelict buildings. They sought to construct a four-storey and part five-storey development that would include 17 apartments over low ground floor car parking and ancillary accommodation.

In its decision to refuse permission, An Bord Pleanála said that the height, massing and excessive density of the development as proposed would constitute ‘overdevelopment’ of the site.

They said that to grant permission would ‘result in an overly dominant and visually incongruous development in this location and would result in an unacceptable and detrimental impact to the residential amenities of the adjoining properties by way of overlooking, loss of privacy and potential overshadowing’.

The Board took the view that the proposed development failed to provide an acceptable level of residential accommodation in accordance with the Government's national apartment guidelines. noting that the apartment sizes were ‘substandard’.

A number of objections were received by Donegal County Council, who made the original decision to refuse permission. Issues raised in those submissions included scale, height and design, overdevelopment, overshadowing, residential amenity and inappropriate demolition.

An Bord Pleanála said that the demolition of two traditional townhouse and replacing them with a ‘predominantly commercial scaled apartment block’ did not support or strengthen Rosemount Lane as an ‘importance laneway and identified key linkage between Main Street and Pearse Road’,