Green light for housing development in Mayo village as councillors stress importance of rural development
A housing development in a south Mayo village has been granted Part Eight planning approval by councillors in the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District of Mayo County Council.
The development will see five new social housing units delivered at Drymill Lawns in Irishtown, Claremorris.
Councillors welcomed the plans, highlighting the importance of building housing projects in smaller villages in order to keep communities thriving and ensure local schools and businesses remain open.
The scheme comprises three two-bedroom houses, one one-bedroom apartment and one two-bedroom apartment.
The homes will be built on a vacant site owned by Mayo County Council, where an affordable housing scheme was initiated around 20 years ago, but was not completed.
Works will include amendments to the existing access road and vehicle turning area, the provision of new footpaths and site clearance.
Plans also provide for car parking, public lighting, boundary walls, fencing, hard and soft landscaping and all ancillary site works.
The development will incorporate the construction of a temporary construction access point from the existing estate road serving Drymill Lawns.
Cllr Richard Finn welcomed the development and said it was great to see the council using its existing land across the county to build houses, and noted the importance of developing housing in smaller villages and rural areas.
“I have no doubt that there is a demand for housing in these areas,” he said. “We have to concentrate on keeping people in villages like this to keep our schools and local pubs open - it’s great to see.”
“Smaller villages where services are available should also be considered [for housing developments], rather than the larger built-up areas that are often promoted above smaller areas - these smaller areas need the population too,” he added.
Cllr Alma Gallagher agreed and congratulated the residents in Irishtown as this project was “a long time in the pipeline”.
She praised the development for its potential to encourage intergenerational living, as the new homes will be in close proximity to an elderly housing estate, a community centre, Irishtown National School, a preschool, a playground and a church.
Cllr Gallagher noted the mix of housing and amenities has the potential to bring people of all ages together, helping to build a strong, connected community, and suggested it could serve as a model for other villages across Ireland.
“It is a fantastic model that you can demonstrate nationally of intergenerational living, where all of those facilities and amenities are in close proximity."
“It is a really vibrant community, and I hope with this development [it will be] the catalyst to instigate other developments,” she said.
The Part Eight was granted at the March meeting of the municipal district council, along with a Part Eight for a separate housing development in Kilmaine.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.