Final approval granted for 10-storey Athlone hotel
A 192-bedroom hotel on Athlone's Ballymahon Road, which will be up to ten storeys in height, has been granted final planning approval by An Bord Pleanála.
A decision by Westmeath County Council planners to grant permission for the ambitious project last November was subsequently appealed to An Bord Pleanála on two grounds; increased traffic and the height of the development.
But, in a ruling that was published last week, the planning board rejected the appeal, finding that the development planned by Avenir Assets Management DAC would "not adversely impact" on the residential amenity of neighbouring properties by reasons of overlooking or overbearing, and that it would be acceptable "in terms of traffic and pedestrian safety".
However, one of the 17 conditions attached to the the order made by An Bord Pleanála requires the developer to submit detailed designs for all required infrastructural works at the junction of Brawney Road and the Ballymahon Road/N55 roundabout.
Designs for infrastructural works along the extent of the subject site of Brawney Road were also required to be submitted. The agreed infrastructural works must be "fully completed" prior to occupation of the proposed hotel development.
The planning board has also stipulated that the three-storey car park must be "solely used" in conjunction with the associated hotel accommodation, and not for commercial purposes unless authorised by a further planning application.
The appeal to An Bord Pleanála was lodged last December by Declan and Brigid Lough, of Cloghanboy Court, Arcadia.
They cited an observation on the project by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, which stated that the hotel development, if approved, "would create an adverse impact on the national road and associated junction."
Declan and Brigid Lough also objected to the height of the proposed hotel, stating that it would lead to "a loss of privacy" to their front-facing bedrooms and would not be "in keeping" with the height of other buildings in the vicinity.
Longford-based Avenir Assets Management DAC successfully applied for a change of use at the site... to a hotel, having previously being granted planning permission in 2022 for a large office block development at the same location.
The site is located in Cloghanboy, just off the N6 Athlone Relief Road, and close to the Athlone Regional Sports Centre and the Brawny residential area.
The proposed development will consist of 192 bedrooms in a part 10-storey and part 8-storey building that will include a bar, restaurant, gym/spa as well as conference and meeting room facilities. A three-storey car park also forms part of the project.
In relation to overlooking the nearest adjoining residential dwellings, the An Bord Pleanála Inspector's report acknowledged that the proposed development would be visible from the nearest residential sites to the west, which are situated "across the Ballymahon road" but pointed out that the nearest residential dwellings are "some 60.7 metres" from the appeal site.
"There is also significant existing boundary planting to the Ballymahon Road side with additional planting proposed within the development site," the inspector's report stated, before concluding that the the development would not give rise to overlooking of the nearest residential dwellings.