Council refuses permission for seven-home development in Castledermot

KILDARE County Council has refused planning permission for a proposed housing development on Main Street, Castledermot, citing concerns over design, environmental impact and sustainable drainage systems.

The application, lodged by APD Partnership on 5 September, sought permission to construct seven residential units on a 1,388-square-metre site in the town centre. The plans included one townhouse at the corner of Main Street and a new access road, along with six flat-roofed terraced houses, one two-storey and five three-storey units with roof terraces and private open spaces.

However, the council issued a refusal of permission on 23 October, citing four key reasons.

In its decision, the local authority said the scale, bulk and massing of the development represented ‘an incongruous form of development and an overdevelopment of the site’, which would negatively affect the character and residential amenity of the area.

The council found the proposal contrary to Objective UD 01 of the Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029 and the principles of sustainable residential development and compact settlement guidelines.

The council also criticised the removal of all natural vegetation and boundary hedgerows on the site prior to the application, noting that no rationale or compensatory landscaping plan had been provided. It stated that the design lacked meaningful green space and failed to provide a ‘comprehensive high-quality open space and landscape design’, contrary to development plan policies on biodiversity and open space provision.

A further reason for refusal related to the proposed underground attenuation tank to manage surface water, which the council said conflicted with its SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) guidance document. The local authority noted that underground tanks beneath public open spaces are not acceptable under current planning policy.

Finally, the council raised environmental concerns due to the site’s proximity – approximately 160 metres west of the River Barrow and River Nore Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The planning report noted that the application failed to include any Appropriate Assessment (AA) Screening or Natura Impact Statement to assess potential ecological impacts, deeming the proposal premature pending further environmental assessment.

Kildare County Council concluded that the proposal would set an undesirable precedent for similar developments and was contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

No appeal has yet been made to An Coimisiún Pleanála for this development after Kildare County Council’s decision.