Investors walk away from major Mayo urban renewal project
A PLANNED multi-million-euro urban renewal investment has been lost to Castlebar.
In a disappointing development, a local business consortium is withdrawing a proposal to give a new lease of life to a prime town centre site because it believes it was being stymied by the planning system.
The Mall Syndicate has declined to issue a statement to The Connaught Telegraph over its decision not to proceed with the construction of a 98-bedroom nursing home, 49 sheltered apartments and a mix of retail and office space on a site adjacent to the Castle Street carpark and extending to the old convent site at Rock Square.
However, a local elected representative, Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, is convinced the applicants did so due to planning frustrations.
In effect, the members of Mall Syndicate, which is understood to include Intersport Elverys chief Pat Rowland and members of the Staunton family, were 'taken aback' by the extent of a further information request issued to it last September - just over a month after lodging the application - and could see no other option but walking away.
They wrote to local councillors late last year to outline their frustrations with Mayo County Council's planning system.
In the letter The Mall Syndicate stated: "We are very frustrated, why did we even bother, we have tried to do something good for the town and develop something complimentary to the social services centre.
“I think we are better directing our resources to other projects outside of Mayo, we don’t believe there is any future dealing with them.
"They (the council) don’t like the demographic mix of housing for older people in the scheme. They have reservations about the dual aspect of some of the apartments, our architects have covered this off.
"They say we are not providing enough parking; this is even though the public car park at the front of the building is empty at times when visitors are most likely to come and the fact that the land was dedicated by landowners to the council previously.
"We also have precedents where they have not required parking for similar developments in Ballina and the national strategy is to limit public parking. They don’t like the nursing home idea.
"They don’t like the elevations despite considerable work going into preplanning.
"In general, they don’t like the scheme."
The application was deemed withdrawn when they failed to meet a deadline last month in which to submit the further information requested after a three-month extension had been granted.
The withdrawal has been confirmed to The Connaught Telegraph by both the council and the applicants.
Now, according to Councillor Kilcoyne, the county town has lost a golden opportunity to transform a significant site into a vibrant urban location.
"It is hard to believe that this project was scrutinised by planners to the degree of the amount sunlight reaching the apartments. It's no wonder the applicants could see the writing on the wall.
"However, if a multi-national investor arrived in this town wishing to spend the type of money that was entailed in this project, the council would bend over backwards to facilitate them. Not so in the case of local investors."
Councillor Kilcoyne said the other sad aspect of the matter is that Castlebar has lost out on 49 sheltered apartments at a time when up to 80 people are deemed to be homeless in the local community.
"I am extremely disappointed that this project could not be facilitated by a more common sense approach by our planning system, both nationally and locally.
"At a time when large sections of the urban core are derelict, dying and a cause of embarrassing, I believe the failure by Mayo County Council to embrace this development is hard to fathom and I will be seeking answers at the first opportunity."
Mayo County Council does not comment on specific planning cases.
But its position was made clear by the further information request issued to the applicants last September, the main points of which were as follows.
1. Mayo County Council encourages the development of 'opportunity sites' in Castlebar for a mixture of uses that will contribute to the regeneration, vibrancy, liveability and compact growth of the town centre.
It is questionable if the provision of a significant sheltered housing development alongside a residential care home will contribute to the regeneration, vibrancy, diversity, vitality, attractiveness, safety, liveability and compact growth of the town centre.
2. The amount of sunlight reaching an apartment significantly affects the amenity of the occupants. The majority of the proposed apartments are single aspect with recessed balconies, so will benefit from limited direct sunlight.
3. The provision of 74 car parking spaces falls significantly short of the requirements as stipulated under Section 7.12 of the Mayo County Development Plan 2022-2028. The applicants have indicated the availability of car parking in the Castle Street car park.
This is not considered a valid argument as the existing Castle Street car park operates daily at full capacity, thus such spaces are not available to future occupants, visitors or staff associated with the new development.
4. Historical sources and research confirm the importance of the historical structures and designed landscapes of the Castlebar Military Barracks, former Convent of Mercy site and associated structures, Rock Square, The Green, associated historical and protected structures, the Mall, Castle Street and the topography of Castlebar.
Thus, the setting of the subject site has significant architectural and historical significance and impacts on the wide historical character of the town.
From an architectural heritage perspective, the proposal will negatively impact historical structures and views of same.
The excessive scale, design and massing of the proposal will change the general visual appearance and the legibility of the historic character of Castlebar, the council planners added.