Core Refusal Reason
The development constitutes overdevelopment of a constrained urban site and provides a substandard level of residential amenity for future occupants due to significant deficiencies in private open space, storage, parking, and internal configuration.
Decision Maker's Conclusion
- The retention of the apartment would provide a poor standard of residential amenity for potential occupants by reason of inadequate access to private open space, lack of storage space, and substandard kitchen size and configuration.
- The proposal represents overdevelopment of an urban site that fails to provide essential facilities including external refuse storage, car parking, and cycle storage provisions as required by national guidelines.
- The development materially contravenes specific residential and apartment policies within the Athlone Town Development Plan and Westmeath County Development Plan, setting an undesirable precedent for future substandard development in the area.
Cited Policies (CDP)
Policy P-RLD7Policy P-APT2CPO 3.15Section 12.9.11Policy P-RLD3Objective O-LZ1Policy P-CS7Section 12.9.3Section 13.2.1
Decision Document Summary
This application sought retention permission for the change of use of a side extension into a self-contained one-bedroom apartment at 24 Court Devenish, Athlone, a site located within an Architectural Conservation Area and zoned for 'Established Residential' use. Westmeath County Council refused the application, determining that the unit provides a substandard level of residential amenity due to the total absence of private open space, inadequate internal storage, and a lack of parking or refuse...SOURCE PDFOpen Original
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