Core Refusal Reason
The proposal was refused due to its excessive scale and prominent location in an area already saturated with one-off housing, combined with inadequate wastewater treatment details and potential impacts on protected European sites.
Decision Maker's Conclusion
- The site lacks natural screening and the proposed dwelling is of an inappropriate scale and bulk, which would result in a prominent and obtrusive development that exacerbates the over-proliferation of one-off housing in the rural area.
- The applicant failed to provide sufficient evidence that the proposed wastewater treatment system complies with the EPA Code of Practice 2021, posing a risk to public health and groundwater quality.
- In the absence of an Appropriate Assessment Screening report, the Planning Authority could not rule out significant adverse effects on the Dundalk Bay SPA and SAC, to which the site has a hydrological link.
Cited Policies (CDP)
HOU 41Section 3.17.4HOU 46HOU 47HOU 42Section 13.9.4Section 13.9.5Section 13.9.6Section 13.9.7Section 13.9.8Section 13.9.9Section 13.9.10Section 13.19.14Section 13.16.17Section 13.9.15Section 13.9.16ENV 39IU16IU 17IU 18IU19IU 26IU 27NGB 6
Decision Document Summary
Conor and Jayne Grimes sought permission for a large 579sqm six-bedroom two-storey dwelling, a wastewater treatment system, and a new entrance at Rathgory, Dunleer, Co. Louth. While the applicants met the rural housing need criteria for Rural Policy Zone 2, the application was refused. The Planning Authority determined that the site lacked the natural boundaries to absorb a structure of this scale, leading to an obtrusive development in an area already under significant development pressure. Fur...SOURCE PDFOpen Original
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