Developer is not walking away from €34m Thurles housing plan

The €34million Brú na Manach housing scheme proposed by Liberty Square Consulting Ltd at Mitchel Street and Bohernamona Road, in Thurles, has been refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanala.

However, we  understand that the Castlestar Group of developers, led by well known Mr Ronan Barrett, are assessing their next move with the possibility of reapplying with a revised proposal.

The 122 house proposal had been sent directly to An Bord Pleanala for planning consideration, following much consultation with Tipperary County Council, local residents and other stakeholders - this process is designed to expedite much needed housing developments, but following the decision to refuse permission, the whole process is now likely to take much longer. And, it is also likely that any new proposal would go through Tipperary County Council for consideration rather than going back to An Bord Pleanala.

In refusing permission, ABP stated: “It is considered that the proposed development would result in a poor design concept that would be suburban in layout with weak street frontage onto Bohernamona Road and with inappropriate setbacks, inconsistent with the location of the site within the Key Town of Thurles.

The refusal notice went on to say that the proposed development “also lacks variety and distinctiveness, fails to establish a sense of place and has poor connectivity through the site to the surrounding area.

“Furthermore, the layout of the proposed scheme is considered to be dominated by roads and parking with little in the way of street hierarchy, together with inadequate pedestrian and cycle connectivity through the site.”

“The proposed development would be contrary to Ministerial guidelines and, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.”

The development was to comprise 11 four bed semi-detached houses; 62 three-bed semi-detached houses; 16 two-bed terrace houses; 24 two & three-bed townhouses over two two-bed ground floor units; 9 four-bed semi-detached dual aspect houses.

Tipperary Independent TD Michael Lowry (pictured above)  told the Tipperary Star that the developers are assessing and examining the decision of An Bord Pleanala, which he described as being “baffling.”

“It seems that An Bord Pleanala want to have city style developments in rural urban settings and you just cannot have that. They need to understand that there is a need to have different plans and regulations for cities and rural towns. The decision to refuse permission is architecturally baffling. What they are saying is simply not logical for the site,” he said.
The developers, who had pledged to use local tradespeople and services during the construction process which they hoped would begin in September, had specifically designed the entrance on Bohernamona Road to cater for local traffic layout - one of the features which was shot down by ABP.