Ardboyne to be demolished in favour of new four-star hotel?

The owners of the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan want to build a new four-star property at Kilcarn and demolish the existing Dublin Road hotel, according to the new draft Navan Development Plan. Zoning to permit the construction of a new hotel and to build houses on the site of the existing Ardboyne Hotel is being sought by the owners in a submission to the new draft development plan. A submission arising from the public display of the Strategic Issues Papers (SIPs) for the new draft plan was made on behalf of the Cusack Hotel Group, owners of the Ardboyne Hotel. The submission seeks zoning of about five acres of land west of the Old Kilcarn bridge, immediately north of and adjacent to the site for a new hotel. With the prospect of a new hotel at Kilcarn, the Ardboyne Hotel would no longer be viable, the submission states. It was therefore requested that the lands on which it presently stands should be rezoned to residential usage. Regarding the proposed new hotel, the submission points out that lands to the south of the five acres referred to already have the benefit of planning permission for a hotel. The Cusack Group says it wants to revise the design of the hotel and provide for an 'up-market four-star hotel similar to the Knightsbridge Hotel in Trim'. The hotel group added in its submission that the zoning of the lands on the existing Ardboyne site for residential purposes was very important to the financial feasibility of the project when taken as a package. The Ardboyne Hotel has been a feature of Navan social, community and business life since it opened in the 1970s. The response of Navan Area Manager, Eugene Cummins, to the submission was that the planning authority would welcome the provision of a high-quality hotel at this key gateway site in Navan and recognsied the associated planning gain. However, with respect to the proposal for extra residential zoning, the area manager said that there already was sufficient land zoned within the Navan Development Plan boundary to cater for existing and future residential needs over the lifetime of the plan. Further consideration is to be given to the submission during the review process, he added.