Core Refusal Reason
The application was refused due to the applicant's failure to demonstrate a genuine local housing need and the proposal's negative impact on the rural landscape through excessive hedgerow removal and poor site integration.
Decision Maker's Conclusion
- The applicant failed to provide sufficient documentary evidence, such as school records, to verify the required 18-year residency in the local area to satisfy the rural housing need criteria for Rural Policy Zone 2.
- The proposed removal of extensive mature roadside hedgerows to facilitate access would significantly erode the rural character of the area and set an undesirable precedent for the removal of mature vegetation in the locality.
- The site lacks adequate natural boundaries to allow the dwelling to integrate effectively into the landscape, resulting in an intrusive encroachment of physical development in an open rural setting.
Cited Policies (CDP)
NGB 6HOU 41Section 3.17.4HOU 45HOU 46HOU 47HOU 42Section 13.9.4Section 13.9.5Section 13.9.6Section 13.9.7Section 13.9.8Section 13.9.9Section 13.9.10Section 13.19.14Table 13.13Section 13.9.15Section 13.9.16ENV 39IU 16IU 17IU 18IU 19IU 26
Decision Document Summary
Caoimhe Treanor sought planning permission for a storey-and-a-half dwelling and wastewater treatment system at Rathduff, Dundalk, Co. Louth, located within Rural Policy Zone 2. Louth County Council refused the application on two primary grounds: the applicant failed to provide adequate proof of the 18-year local residency link required by the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027, and the development was deemed visually intrusive. The planning authority concluded that the lack of natural site ...SOURCE PDFOpen Original
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