The High Court has quashed An Coimisiún Pleanála’s refusal of planning permission for a proposed 186-bedroom hotel at Briarhill Business Park on Bóthar na dTreabh in Galway.
Parosi Developments Limited proposes an eight-storey-over-basement hotel on Site 4 at Briarhill Business Park, in the townlands of Ballybrit and Doughiska. The project includes a restaurant, bar, spa, pool, gym, meeting rooms, 153 car spaces and other associated works.
Galway City Council granted permission in February 2022 subject to conditions. The proposal was subsequently appealed, and the commission refused permission. That refusal was quashed by consent in June 2024 and the case was sent back for reconsideration.
After remittal, the commission again refused permission on 12 December 2024, citing the height, scale and mass of the proposed development and concerns about public transport and reduced car parking.
Mr Justice Humphreys held that the commission had not adequately explained why it rejected the detailed conclusions of its own inspector, who had recommended permission on several occasions.
The inspector had found the site to be outside the formally defined outer suburban area, in an established business park on a public transport corridor, with regular buses every 10 to 20 minutes. The inspector also found the receiving environment was not sensitive, noted nearby taller buildings and concluded that the site could accommodate greater height.
The judge also found inadequate reasoning on car parking. The Galway development plan permits a performance-based approach and flexibility where sustainable transport alternatives are demonstrated, but the commission did not properly engage with the inspector’s assessment of those factors.
The December 2024 refusal was therefore quashed. Both the developer’s and third parties’ appeals are to return to the commission for reconsideration, with the court proposing remittal to the stage immediately after the inspector’s November 2024 report.