Green light for 181 homes in Mullingar

Planners have given the green light to a development of 181 residential units at Rathgowan, along the C-Link Road in Mullingar.

The homes – 155 houses and 16 maisonettes and 10 apartments – are to be developed by Marina Quarter Ltd, a subsidiary of Glenveagh Homes Ltd.

The development, which is earmarked for the 5.95ha site that surrounds the ESB substation on the Ashe Road, had been granted permission by Westmeath County Council in December but went before An Bord Pleanála on foot of an appeal by two parties, Mary O’Driscoll of the neighbouring Ashefield Estate, and Patrick Lynch of Proudstown Road, Navan.

In her report on the development, the Bord Pleanála inspector noted that 18 units are to be surrendered by the developer to comply with Part 5 requirements.

The 25 conditions imposed by the county council when it granted permission in December included one requiring that all residential units had to be occupied by the actual purchasers, which would rule out the purchase of the dwellings by investor companies.

In her analysis of the design of the development, the inspector stated that the density of 36.4 units per hectare was appropriate for the site. She noted that it contained a range and mix of units comprising four-beds, three-beds, two-beds and one-bed units.

“The proposed development is set around a network of streets, interlinked pedestrian and cyclist pathways and open space which provides connections to the wider bus and rail routes,” the inspector wrote.

She added that shared surface streets had been included to prioritise pedestrian access within the development. “Overall a suitable layout and design has been achieved based on the provision of a mix of residential units and through the creation of pedestrian and cycling extensions that connect back to the centre of Mullingar,” she stated.

The inspector commented that the development represented the final phase of a larger development and that planning permission had previously been gathered for a 97-child-place crèche intended to cater for the needs of all the proposed and permitted phases of development including the one under consideration.

It was anticipated, she remarked, that work on the development would span around 24 months in total.