Plans for Tipperary housing development rejected on safety grounds
A proposed cluster housing development in a Tipperary village has been refused planning permission by An Coimisiún Pleanála, which upheld concerns about traffic safety and the project’s detachment from the village core.
Maureen and James Hally appealed a Tipperary County Council decision to refuse planning permission for a cluster development of three houses in Churchquarter, Kilfeacle.
The project would include renovating and extending an existing cottage, as well as building two new houses.
Tipperary County Council refused permission on the grounds that it doesn’t comply with the council’s county development plan, as the proposed housing development would not “effectively link with the village”.
The council also refused permission because the entrance for the new houses would sit on a road with an 80km/h speed limit.
“It is considered that the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard as the site is to be accessed from the heavily trafficked N74 National Secondary Road at a point where a speed limit of 80km/h applies,” Tipperary County Council said.
Mr and Mrs Hally appealed the local authority’s decision on the grounds that the development would be in keeping with the development plan, that the shared access to the three homes would reduce the impact of the busy road and that the houses would offer a housing solution for the village.
However, the An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) inspector agreed with the local authority that the proposed development would be detached from the village.
"The only physical link available to the village core is by car. In this regard I agree with the planning authority that the site cannot link effectively to the village,” the ACP inspector said.
"It would appear to me that there are other sites within the settlement boundary of Kilfeacle which could be appropriately developed” as cluster developments, the inspector added.
The inspector also added that the homes would “amount to uncoordinated and speculative ribbon development”.
Ribbon development refers to properties that are built in a long, linear strip along the sides of a main road.
The inspector also said that the entrance to the new houses would undermine “the primary function of the N74 road for strategic connections”.
“The creation of new accesses or the intensification of use of existing accesses onto national roads increases additional turning movements which as a consequence introduces safety risks to road users,” the inspector said.
Based on these issues, An Coimisiún Pleanála decided to uphold Tipperary County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission.