Cavan housing plans appealed

Plans for 25 new homes in Cavan town have been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

The development, planned by Erne Building Solutions Ltd, is earmarked for a site next to The Beeches estate in Swellan.

One detached, two-storey house is planned, with 14 two-storey semi-detached houses and 10 apartments made up of three, two storey blocks.

However, the plans have been appealed due to a number of concerns, including over the proximity of the new homes to existing houses in the area.

The company plans to complete an unfinished section of The Beeches and The Elms estates as part of the development.

A number of previous planning applications were approved but only the concrete base and foundations of a number of houses were ever laid. The almost two hectare site has lain as wasteland since.

Local resident Karl Byrne made the only submission on the plans to the County Council. He raised a number of concerns about the development.

In his submission, he says a number of the houses would back onto the side gable of his home, with inadequate distance between windows.

“The side gable of our property has bedroom windows and the separation distance is not dimensioned byt scales at 18-19m. This falls short of the minimum standards of 22m between opposing first floor windows.”

He raised the lack of parking for the homes and said there are a number of environmental concerns including the discharging of surface water into the Cavan River.

The Municipal Engineer for the Cavan-Belturbet MD said the existing infrastructure on site had been originally designed “to accommodate construction of this site”. However, clarification was also sought on the planned parking provision for the apartments.

“There appears to be less than one space provided per unit, nine spaces and one disabled parking space. Given the location, it is probable that there will be a need for more parking.”

Further information on the plans was requested by the County Council, including a provision for increasing parking on site. Plans were updated accordingly to give two spaces per apartment and one visitor parking spot.

An invasive species report submitted as part of the further information request noted Japanese knotweed on site.

Cavan County Council granted approval for the development in late July. It attached 26 conditions to the planning approval.

However, this decision has been appealed to the planning board. A decision from that body is expected by mid-December.