Planning permission approved for over 140 homes in Ratoath

Meath County Council has granted planning permission for a residential development on the Ballybin Road in Ratoath on a site adjacent to Fox Lodge Manor.

Marshall Yards Development Company Limited lodged a planning application for 141 new home on the 13.5 acres site in July and more than 130 submissions were received by the council on the plans.

Residents of Fox Lodge Manor were opposed to plans to take down their boundary wall and amalgamate the open space in their estate with the open space in the proposed development.

Locals also feared traffic chaos if the existing roundabout which is relatively free-flowing is replaced with a signalised junction as proposed. Other concerns raised in the submissions included the removal of mature trees and hedgerows, the design of the houses and the lack of passive surveillance in some open space areas in the development.

Further information was requested on the plans on 28th August which was submitted on 17th October and as part of revised plans the number of units was reduced from 141 to 130.

Addressing issues raised in further information, the applicant omitted the two two-storey maisonette blocks in the north of the site. In lieu of these buildings, which contained eight one-bed units, six single-storey terraced dwellings were proposed. The applicant also proposed to change the relationship between the northern and western boundaries of the scheme and existing dwellings in Fox Lodge Woods and Fox Lodge Manor.

Reasons were given in the further information regarding the proposed amalgamation of the public open space to the north with the existing residential development, including permeability, integration, passive surveillance, and the planner's report notes that support for same is in various policy documents.

A detailed planting regime was proposed and a pathway was proposed to delineate between the developments.

Planning permission has now been granted for 130 residential units subject to 35 conditions.

Among the conditions is that the development should be phased and that the childcare facility be constructed as part of the first phase. It must be completed prior to the ccommencement of the 75th residential unit on the site.