Plan for high-rise Athlone hotel gets green light
Athlone's skyline looks set to have a new addition in the years ahead, after Westmeath County Council last week approved plans for a hotel that would rise to ten storeys in height on the Ballymahon Road.
The proposed development was approved for a site at Cloghanboy, just off the N6 Athlone Relief Road, and close to the Athlone Regional Sports Centre and the Brawny residential area.
Proposed by Longford-based Avenir Assets Management DAC, the hotel is due to feature 192 bedrooms in a part 10-storey and part 8-storey building that would include a bar, restaurant, gym/spa as well as conference and meeting room facilities. A three-storey car park is also to be developed as part of the project.
The developer was originally granted planning permission a little over two years ago for an office block on the same site, which would rise to a maximum of nine storeys in height. In June, Avenir Assets Management DAC sought revised planning permission to develop a hotel there instead.
Responding last month to a request from the council for further information on the plans, the developer argued that the project would not have a detrimental impact on the operation of the already-busy Ballymahon Road roundabout.
"The 'as permitted' scenario on the site is for an office development, which the local planning authority previously deemed fully acceptable in terms of traffic impact," HW Planning Consultants pointed out in a submission on behalf of the developer.
"The anticipated traffic patterns for the proposed hotel development suggest that the overall impact will be less significant than that of the permitted office block.
"By spreading traffic more evenly throughout the day, and not during peak morning and evening travel periods, the hotel development will actually contribute to less trips on the local road network in practice during periods of more concentrated traffic use."
During the planning process, an objection to the hotel had been submitted by nearby residents, Declan and Brigid Lough, while Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) also submitted a report which expressed concerns about the project.
Declan and Brigid Lough, of Cloghanboy Court, Arcadia, highlighted the existing traffic congestion in the vicinity of the Ballymahon Road roundabout and also raised concerns about the proposed height of the hotel and its potential to impact the privacy of nearby homes.
The response submitted last month on behalf of the developer stated that the hotel was approximately 61 metres from the nearest residential dwelling to the west, located on the other side of the N55 Ballymahon Road.
"The proposed hotel does not provide for any increase in external height on the previously permitted office development, and therefore it will not have any impact on residential amenity relative to that previously assessed," said the developer's submission.
It went on to say that the project would help fulfil "key objectives" contained in the Government's National Planning Framework, which designated Athlone as a regional growth centre for the Midlands.
These objectives included "the express need to strengthen Athlone’s tourism offering in order to fully establish it as a destination town within Westmeath.
"The subject site is located at a strategic gateway to Athlone and is at a highly sustainable location having regard to existing and permitted cycle, pedestrian and road infrastructure, as well as close proximity to key social and community infrastructure," it said.
In a decision dated Wednesday last, November 6, Westmeath County Council granted planning approval for the hotel, subject to 16 conditions.
These include that, prior to starting construction, the developer must pay a planning contribution to the council of €311,364.
The local authority also stated that the permitted three-storey car park should only be used in conjunction with the hotel accommodation, and not for any other commercial purpose, unless planning consent was obtained.