Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick's hopes of building a new house in a rear garden of another house that has planning permission near Greystones in Co Wicklow now lie with An Bord Pleanála.
Wicklow County Council refused planning permission to Mr FitzPatrick and his wife Caitriona FitzPatrick for a two-storey, four-bedroomed home at Meadow Garden, Farm Lane in the Old Burnaby area of Greystones.
The proposed home lies adjacent to a site where the FitzPatricks secured planning permission for a four-bedroomed home last December at the Meadow Garden site which lies close to Greystones Golf Club.
Planning permission was granted for that house by An Bord Pleanála after the local council refused it.
Local residents objected to the new planning application and in a comprehensive refusal, the council said that due to the location of the planned home in a rear garden of a permitted dwelling, the proposal would lead to a cramped and uncharacteristic form of development.
In refusing planning permission, the council had regard to the uncharacteristic design and form of the dwelling for the area and the size of the application site and scale of the proposed dwelling.
Undue impact
The council also ruled that the dwelling would have an undue impact on the amenities, character and setting of Farm Lane and would degrade and detract from the character of the Burnaby Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) – a low-density area of architectural interest, composed mainly of large, family-style homes on generous sites with a sylvan character.
The council refused planning permission after its area planner Holly O’Connor recommended refusal.
Ms O’Connor said the proposal essentially involves subdividing a plot and creating a more intense density than the prevailing density in the area.
Ms O’Connor also said the proposal to develop a home in a rear garden of a permitted dwelling would alter the character of the Burnaby (ACA) and would set a precedent for future infill dwelling development.
Planning consultant for the FitzPatricks Kevin Hughes told the council that the proposed development "has been designed to the highest quality, in terms of scale, height, massing and finishing materials, to ensure that there is no detriment caused to the amenity of adjoining neighbours or the character and appearance of the area".
