by Louise Doyle

A STATE agency has lodged a submission to a proposed large-scale residential development in Letterkenny, citing insufficient data has been produced to show that it will not have a detrimental impact on the national road network in its vicinity.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has strongly recommended that a Traffic and Transport Assessment (TTA) is carried out to assess the impacts of the proposed development.

PJ McDermott has lodged planning permission for the construction of 260 residential units, a large shop, and a créche at Glencar Irish and Glencar Scotch, Letterkenny.

The proposed development also includes the construction of two new roads from the county road L-1174-1 (Grange Road) and an internal distributor road and service roads. Amenity open spaces and play areas, as well as all associated site development works, including connection to existing public services and car parking and cycle paths are contained within the proposed application. The application is accompanied by an Ecological Impact Assessment Report (EAIR)

An Coimisiún Pleanála reversed a Donegal County Council decision in 2024 giving the green light to planning permission for 180 residential units, including 156 houses and eight apartment blocks to be built over ten years at the site. It followed joint objections from The Old Glencar Road Residents, Solomon’s Grove Residents, and Upper Fernhill Residents’ Association. The residents had branded the development as “grossly excessive”.

In correspondence published in recent days on Donegal County Council’s planning portal in relation to the new proposed development, TII state that it has examined the application “and considers that it is at variance with official policy in relation to the control of development on/affecting national roads”.

The submission states: “The Authority is of the opinion that insufficient data has been submitted with the planning application to demonstrate that the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact on the capacity, safety or operational efficiency of the national road network in the vicinity of the site.

“The Authority considers that the proposed development would be at variance with national policy in relation to control of frontage development on national roads, as outlined in the DoECLG Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities (January, 2012).

“It is strongly recommended that a Traffic and Transport Assessment (TTA) is carried out to assess the impacts of the proposed development in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the TII Traffic and Assessment Guidelines (2014).”

Submissions are being accepted until Tuesday, September 9. Donegal County Council will make its decision on Tuesday, September 30.

TII is a state agency under the aegis of the Department of Transport, working at both national and regional level, in partnership with local authorities.