Bellamont wall ‘not exempted development’ - ABP

An Bord Pleanála has ruled that a new boundary wing wall at Bellamont House in Cootehill is “not exempted development”, meaning an application should have been made to Cavan County Council for planning permission in the first instance.

It’s a win for the local authority, which had come under pressure from locals after the wall first went up.

A Section 5 referral was submitted to the council’s planning section by St Michael’s Close Residents Association on August 6, 2024.

The Council referred the case to national planning authority for consideration. An inspector from An Bord Pleanála visited the site at Station Road in early May.

In a statement to the Celt, American lawyer John Manuel Morehart and owner of Bellamont House and demesne, a protected structure, previously denied any “violation of any regulatory order” over claims locally the near 176-metre long wall built was “unauthorised” in a planning context.

Constructed of light-coloured “predominantly red” brick, the Bord inspector cited in his report that the original boundary wall was of a rubble construction and generally around two metres high.

They found that the brick finish also materially affects the “character” of the boundary wall, and are “inconsistent” with the “special architectural interest” of Bellamont Estate.

‘I am satisfied that it can reasonably be concluded that the act of constructing the boundary wall including wing walls and piers involved works and therefore constitutes development,’ said the Bord inspector in their report, adding that the alterations made are “clearly ‘material’”.

On September 9, 2024, the council wrote to Bord stating there was no planning history on the subject land in respect of the wall, and that “no correspondence” had taken place.

In May 2024, Mr Morehart, through Virginia-based Hanley Taite Design Partnership, signalled, through an advertisement in The Anglo-Celt, his intention to apply for retention permission in respect of “entrance gates, walls and piers, including the partial demolition of a non-original block and stone wall” together with associated site works at Bellamont Forest, Station Road. However, the application never appeared on the council website.

Mr Morehart was previously granted planning to carry out alterations to and restore the nearby gated entrance and walls, as well as the construction of an outbuilding to provide storage.

Considered one of Ireland’s most architecturally important houses, Bellamont, a substantial Palladian villa on 1,000 acres, was first purchased by Mr Morehart and his wife back in 2015 for a price close to €1.5m.

Dating from the 1720s, and designed by renowned architect Edward Lovett Pearce, Bellamont was before Mr Morehart owned by renowned Australian interior designer John Coote, who died in 2012.

Around 400 of the estate’s 1,000 acres are underwater, including Halton’s Shore.

A further 450 acres were once leased by Coillte which, in 2021, relinquished their leasehold interest back to the landowner.