Woodford Dolmen Hotel plans €20 million extension
An artist's impression of the proposed €20m 42-room extension to the hotel
THE OWNERS of the Woodford Dolmen Hotel are hoping to invest €20 million in a three-storey 42-room extension of their hotel, pending planning permission from Carlow County Council.
In a planning application made in mid-December, the four-star hotel owners, Tom and Yasmin O’Loughlin, stated their plan to demolish a two-storey section on the north side of the hotel, rebuild a modern extension and create a leisure centre on the property. The proposed design will add over 30 bedrooms and double the car park to a total of 258 spaces, including EV charging spaces and bus set-down areas.
Colin Duggan, general manager of the hotel, said the investment was part of a “natural progression to keep developing the property”. He said the development would create 50 jobs for the town.
“I think our plan is ambitious. Our plan aligns with a very progressive county council. There’s a lot of spectacular work that’s been done in Carlow over the last couple of years and I think we complement that in our in our proposal here,” said Mr Duggan.
The application drew three submissions from the public, one of whom is environmentalist Peter Sweetman. Mr Sweetman regularly takes planning applications to court over alleged breaches of environmental and nature protection laws.
The hotel property backs onto the River Barrow and Mr Sweetman has argued in his submission received on 2 January that the development must, therefore, be rigorously assessed for compliance with the requirements of the EU’s and the .
Another submission from Stephen Ward Town Planning and Development Consultants in Dundalk argued that the natural impact statement made by Panther Environmental Solutions included in the application is missing key information and expresses concern about the development’s impact on the integrity of the River Barrow and the River Nore special area of conservation.
The third submission came from John Kavanagh, occupier of the neighbouring ‘Shalom’ property. He said the renovations would mean his plot will be enclosed on three sides by parking and that windows from the hotel would look into the back rooms of his property. He also pointed out the potential noise nuisance from the building and flood risks from development on the riverbank.
A decision on the planning application is due in mid-February. If granted, construction will begin in November and take approximately a year.
