Donaghcumper Apartment Application Withdrawn By Kildare County Council

Kildare County Council has deemed the planning application made by Devondale Developments,  at Donaghcumper to be withdrawn according to Cllr Catherine Murphy.

The application was initially made on 18th  March  last  and sought a mixed use scheme including blocks of apartments,  office,  retail and leisure services.   The Council however,  sought additional information on the 12th May to which   the applicant had six months to respond.   Local Authorities have discretion to extend the statutory deadline in cases where an Environmental Impact Assessment forms part of an application.   Because the provision of a Masterplan formed part of the information the Council requested they acceded to a three month extension,  the maximum allowed.    That deadline expired on 10th February,   because the applicant did not reply within the specified timeframe the Council have no option but to deem the application withdrawn.

Cllr Catherine Murphy has welcomed the withdrawal of the application,  she maintained   the whole process was flawed from the beginning.   The land was zoned in 2002 for Town Centre extension,   this was followed by a requirement for an Action Area Plan which was produced some years later,  contained within the Action Area plan was a requirement for a  Masterplan prior to any application being submitted.   This was to cover the entire Donaghcumper Area,  including area’s not in the control of the applicant.     Devondale ignored this requirement and pressed ahead with two planning applications,  the one now withdrawn included high rise modern apartment blocks,   which according to Cllr Murphy were completely out of character with the area,  so much so that  there were dozens of objections to the proposal.

The second application for a suburban housing estate has gone through an even more complicated process,  and remains a live application.    The applicant responded to the further information request on 1st December last,  the Council however, asked for clarification on some aspects of the information supplied including:

• The Council’s architect had particular concerns in relation to the views from both Castletown and Donaghcumper Houses.
• The Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government, recommends the omission of 2 rows of dwellings to the North of the site,  again in order to protect the views from Castletown House.
• Additional photomontages were sought in order that the impact could be fully assessed.
• The Council also took issue with the applicant who constantly referred to Zone A (the application which is now withdrawn)  and was reminded each application stood alone and it could not be presumed one depended on the other.
• In total there were 11 points to be clarified.
• The applicant has up to  6 months in which to reply after which the Council must make a decision within one month.

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Posted by catherinemurphy on February 14, 2009. Filed under Celbridge,Planning & Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.