Planning bid for guesthouse at 'eyesore' Athlone site
The owner of the Daly Apartments complex opposite the TUS campus in Athlone has lodged a planning bid for a 17-bed guesthouse nearby, on the site of a derelict property at Kilmacaugh Avenue in the town.
The planning application for the development at 4 Kilmacaugh Avenue was submitted to Westmeath County Council on behalf of Cloudview Properties Ltd last month.
Athlone councillor Aengus O'Rourke put on record his "wholehearted support" for the project in a letter to the planning authority, saying it would involve the much-needed redevelopment of an "eyesore" property which had long caused issues for nearby residents.
Cloudview Properties is seeking permission for "a guest accommodation development incorporating an existing derelict dwelling" along with two extensions, to the side and rear of the existing property, in order to provide 17 guest bedrooms.
The developer is also requesting approval for the demolition of "an existing rear annex", along with ancillary site development works.
Cloudview Properties Limited listed Kilmacoo Avenue, Athlone, as its company address.
In his letter of support for the planning application, Cllr O'Rourke wrote: "This property, for many years, has been the source of a significant amount of problems for the people living in the locality and for Westmeath County Council."
He said the issues that had arisen there included "dereliction, dumping, anti-social behaviour, criminal activity, squatting... it has been an ever-present eyesore in the area for too long.
"Huge efforts have been made by a very progressive local residents' group in Willow Park to improve the area, and they have transformed Willow Park over the course of the past 10 years," wrote the Fianna Fáil representative.
"I am, therefore, pleased to see an application come before the council in respect of a proposal to redevelop this old house and bring new life to the property and the area. I wholeheartedly support this application and wish the project proposers involved the very best of luck with their plans."
Westmeath County Council is due to make its decision on the planning application by April 14.