Approval for 65-home Hillquarter plan

A planned development of more than 60 new homes in the Hillquarter area of Coosan was given the go-ahead by Westmeath County Council on Wednesday last.

The decision came more than a year after the planning bid for the development, which was originally proposed as having 67 homes, but was later reduced slightly to 65, was lodged.

Mistledale Limited, directed by Helena Moore, care of Mary Thornton & Associates in Oranmore, Galway, is the company behind the project.

The new homes are proposed for a 0.408 hectare site at Hillquarter, which would include a connection to Coosan Road.

The dwellings proposed in the plans comprise a mix of mostly three and four-bedroom homes, along with a smaller number of two-bedroom terraced houses. Under the Part V planning process, nine of the new housing units are to be given to the council to be used as social housing.

The plans had attracted more than 15 objections from local residents or people with connections to the area. These outlined a range of concerns, a number of which related to the suitability of the road of network in the area to cater for the increase in traffic arising from the new homes.

There were also issues raised in relation to the location of the proposed entrance to the development, as well as concerns about school capacity in the area, the lack of public transport connections in Hillquarter, and the removal of mature trees and native hedgerows.

Having requested further information on the plans on two occasions, last July and in January, the council decided last week to approve the development, subject to 23 conditions.

These included payment to the council of a development contribution of €223,440, along with the setting aside of €7,500 to be used as contribution toward the cost of adding traffic calming measures in the locality.

Contributions of €60,000 toward "pedestrian linkages serving the development", and €10,000 for public lighting, were also sought by the council.

Another condition requires the developer to submit revised plans to the local authority for "a pedestrian priority crossing at the main entrance to the proposed development".

The council stipulated that site development and building works can be carried out only between the hours of 7am to 7pm, Mondays to Fridays inclusive, between 8am to 2pm on Saturdays, and not on Sundays and public holidays.