by Louise Doyle
RESIDENTS’ associations in Letterkenny have called on An Bord Pleanála to investigate their claims of a lack of transparency around a major proposed housing development in Letterkenny.
The Old Glencar Road, Solomon’s Grove and Upper Fernhill Residents’ Associations have lodged an objection with the national independent planning authority following the granting of planning permission by Donegal County Council for the second phase of the development – one of the largest Letterkenny will potentially see in years.
Applicant PJ McDermott lodged plans with Donegal County Council in May 2023 for the development in Glencar Irish and Glencar Scotch, Letterkenny.
He sought permission for a period of 10 years for a large scale residential development comprising construction of phase 2 of a housing development consisting of a total of 188 residential units in all, comprising 160 houses and seven apartment blocks containing 28 apartments.
The development includes connections to piped services proposed as part of the adjacent Phase 1 development of 90 residential units to the south (appeal pending with An Bord Pleanála).
Planners gave a conditional go-ahead subject with 37 conditions, including that prior to the first occupation of any dwelling/apartment all infrastructure necessary to support the delivery of services and quality of life to the new residential development and neighbourhood shall be completed.
In their joint written objection, the residents’ associations have cited transparency, infrastructure and traffic concerns, among others.
In their correspondence, they wrote that the development site is in the middle of a mature residential area that is already overdeveloped and lacks the necessary infrastructure to support this level of development.
“This over development and lack of infrastructure in this area was recognised in the Draft Letterkenny Plan and Local Transport Plan 2023-2029, which was published in 2022. This Draft Plan proposed to change the designation of the development site to Strategic Residential Reserve from Primarily Residential.The impact of this designation would have been to prevent a Large Residential Development (LRD) of this nature being permitted and only allow single developments that fitted in with the overall tenor of the area. Mysteriously, and without any consultation, the proposed designation was dropped in the final plan which was adopted by the Council Members in November 2023 and took effect from 3rd January, 2024. We are greatly concerned about the lack of transparency in arriving at this decision and would ask An Bord Pleanála to investigate the methodology employed. It is our view that the designation was altered primarily to facilitate the proposed development.”
The group also stressed that the 10-year timeframe approved by Planners is “totally unacceptable”.
“It is totally unreasonable to expect them (residents) to tolerate the inconvenience of a major development of this nature, with all the associated dirt, noise, dust and construction traffic for such an extended period of time.”
The residents’ associations also cited traffic concerns. They stated that traffic congestion is “already a major issue” with most of the town schools located in close proximity to the proposed development including St Eunan’s College, St Bernadette’s Special School, Loreto Secondary School and Little Angels Special School.
“Traffic congestion in Letterkenny in general is currently a major issue due to the lack of any relieving infrastructure and has been for a number of years.
“Phase 1 of the development has apparently now been designated as 100% social housing and this was certainly not made fully clear during the application process and subsequent approval.”
They stated that previous suggestions in documentation that a proportion of the new residents in the proposed development will walk to and from Letterkenny town and other areas, alleviating traffic congestion will not be feasible.
“The town centre is approximately one mile away and the terrain is very steep and physically demanding to walk. Very few of the existing residents in the area make this walk and transport is generally used. We do not believe that walking will be an option for the new residents.”
The residents’ associations also raised their concerns for the absence of thought regarding the preservation of wildlife and general ecology, which they stated has been “totally ignored during the planning process”.
“It would appear that all the existing mature trees on the site will be removed to facilitate the development. The site is a natural breeding ground for the common frog and the trees support a lot of bat colonies. These are protected species under both Irish and EU Legislation and must be protected. It is totally wrong to denude an area of this nature and destroy wildlife habitats to support commercial gain.”
The case is due to be decided by July 3, 2024.
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