Core Refusal Reason
The application was refused due to the applicant's failure to demonstrate a genuine rural housing need in an area under strong urban pressure and the site's technical unsuitability for safe wastewater disposal.
Decision Maker's Conclusion
- The applicant failed to provide adequate documentation, including land registry and folio details, to prove a functional or social need to reside in this specific rural area under strong urban influence as required by Policy Objective RH2.
- Due to poor drainage and percolation characteristics, the planning authority is not satisfied that the site can safely accommodate a wastewater treatment system in compliance with the EPA Code of Practice, posing a risk to public health.
- The development would materially contravene the Galway County Development Plan 2022-2028 and ministerial guidelines, setting an undesirable precedent for random development in a sensitive coastal landscape.
Cited Policies (CDP)
Policy Objective RH 2Policy Objective RH 4Policy Objective WW6DM Standard 7DM Standard 38DM Standard 46
Decision Document Summary
The proposal involved the construction of a 208sqm single-storey four-bedroom dwelling and a wastewater treatment system on a coastal site at An Pointe, An Cheathrú Rua. The location is within a Special Landscape Sensitivity area and the GCTPS zone, where strict rural housing need criteria apply. Galway County Council refused permission primarily because the applicant failed to substantiate their housing need with sufficient documentary evidence and the site's poor drainage characteristics made ...SOURCE PDFOpen Original
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