Carlow council wants more info on Rathvilly site

CARLOW Co Council has requested further information from a developer who plans to build 20 homes on a 0.9-hectare site along the N81 in Rathvilly village. The development includes knocking down an existing house which is not a protected structure, ‘Slaney Cottage,’ and building five three-bedroom houses with a basement garage, eight three-bedroom houses without a garage and seven four-bedroom houses without a garage. It is located near to the old southern and western railway line, Rathvilly bridge and a castle ruins.

The new estate would include an entrance into the estate from the N81, footpaths, 27 car parking spaces, bike and bin storage and a new wastewater pumping station, in addition to the houses, back gardens and public green areas. The houses will have a BER rating of A2.

Liam McLoughlin Architecture, which purports to own the site, submitted plans for the development in January. The council made a request for further information on 16 March, just one day before a decision was due as to whether permission would be granted.

In its request for further information, the planning office asked that the developers consider retaining the dwelling currently on the site rather than demolishing it to preserve the built heritage of the village. It also asked the developers to consider how five of the houses will back onto the busy main road, how they propose to add high-quality frontage and minimise noise pollution in those back gardens.

It listed concerns with road traffic and pedestrian safety, the sloped topography of the site, water pollution because of the nearby river, flood prevention and possible archaeological remains on the site. The developer has six months to address the request for further information.