Apartments plan for Mayo county town site turned down

PLANS for an apartment development at the site of the former Coal Bunker at the Pontoon Road/Turlough Road junction in Castlebar have been turned down.

Mayo County Council has refused planning permission for the project.

The reasons for the decision have yet to be published on the council website.

There were a number of objectors to the proposed development, including submissions from three local councillors.

Developer Harold Conway had submitted a proposal to Mayo County Council to build 19 apartments (10 two-bed and nine one-bed) in a part-four/part-five storey building.

Councillors Blackie Gavin, Harry Barrett and Michael Kilcoyne made written representations stating their objections to the plans, along with a number of local residents.

They voiced concern that the project represented overdevelopment of a small site, and its excessive height and scale was inconsistent and out of character with the established pattern of development in the area.

Councillor Kilcoyne made the point in his submission that parking would be needed for at least 40 vehicles, but there didn't appear to be any provision for parking on the site.

The HSE ambulance service is based in the grounds of the Sacred Heart Hospital opposite the site and any indiscriminate parking could hamper the ambulance service in an emergency, he said.

Councillor Barrett had similar concerns and while the need for additional housing was acknowledged, in its current form this proposal presented 'significant adverse impacts on local amenities, safety and the character of the area'.

The site's history as a former oil depot with underground tanks raised potential contamination concerns that were not adequately adressed in the application, he added.

Councillor Barrett felt the council should consider a compulsory purchase order to acquire the site itself to develop a proper roundabout, addressing the traffic congestion at the busy junction.

Councillor Gavin echoed their concerns in his submission, highlighting traffic hazard at what is a major junction, and noting its close proximity to the Sacred Heart Hospital entrance, where many patients are brought out by family members in wheelchairs and use the adjacent footpath and pedestrian crossing.

Fourteen separate objections were also submitted to the council by local residents.