Nursing home at Johnstown given planning go-ahead

An Bord Pleanala has upheld Meath County Council's granting of planning permission for a 72-bedroom nursing home and six independent living units at the rear of Cill Foireann estate in Johnstown, Navan. Meath County Council had granted planning permission to Paddy Stafford for the nursing home, car parking, access roads, six fully serviced detached independent living units and all associated site works on a site of 3.08ha at Alexander Reid and Kilcarn townlands, Johnstown, Navan. Access to the development was proposed via the existing Cill Foireann residential estate. The site is zoned objective "to provide for and protect existing community, recreational and educational facilties" and also contains a special local objective which states that the site should be used to "provide a retirement complex to included associated housing which shall comprise of assisted living units, nursing home and associated medical facilties". The granting of planning permission was appealed by the Cill Foireann Residents' Association who objected to the development on a number of grounds, the main one being the proposed access through their estate, both during construction and post-construction. The appeal stated that the development is only phase one of a larger overall development on the site, that construction would be spread over an extended period up to 2015, that the road network is not capable of accommodating the level of construction and post construction traffic proposed, and that post-construction traffic levels will be 55 staff during a 24-hour period for phase one only. It added that allowing construction vehicles close to where children are playing was not safe, that there is a Montessori school and a special needs school adjacent to the estate, and that green areas within the estate are regularly used by special needs children. The appeal went on to say that the applicant owns lands adjoining the application site and could therefore provide an alternative access point to the development and also that the estate road is a private road that has not been taken in charge. In its response to the appeal, the applicant said the site has a specific zoning objective for the development of a nursing home, that the proposed access route was considered to be acceptable by the council's road design section, that the road serving the site is a main distributer road within a residential area and is 7m wide and that the traffic volumes generated would be less than that generated by an extension of the established residential development into this part of the site. The applicant added that he does not own significant areas of land in the vicinity and it was for this reason that he sought to retain a right to access lands via the Cill Foireann development as no alternative access route was available to him. It was proposed that a potential access could be used for construction traffic but, because it is restricted in width, it would not be suitable as a permanent access. However, the Bord Pleanala inspector stated in his report that he did not see the alternative route for construction access as offering a "clear advantage" due to its restricted width and the necessity to develop a new access route to the east of Cill Foireann and on lands that are outside of the development boundary and close to the rear of existing residential properties. He said that, subject to the submission of a detailed construction management plan, in his opinion, the use of the main access for construction purposs is the preferable option and is acceptable. Regarding the proposed permanent access to the development through the estate, the inspector added that, given the likely traffic volumes genrated, the nature of the traffic and the width and distance of the access route through Cill Foireann, that the proposed access route is "acceptable in principle and would not have a significant negative impact in terms of residential amenity or pedestrian safety". He said that, between staff and visitors, overall there is likely to be less than 100 two-way trips to and from the proposed facility during phase one. The inspector went on to say that the separation distance between the nursing home and the adjoining dwellings at the closest point is 26m and, given the relative floor levels, the single storey nature of the nursing home and the boundary landscaping proposed, that is considered acceptable and would be such as to minimise potential overlooking and loss of residential amenity. An Bord Pleanala accepted the inspector's recommendations and planning permission was granted for the development, subject to 15 conditions.