High rise apartment plan for Johnstown rejected

An Bord Pleanala has rejected controversial plans for five apartment blocks of up to five stories in height on the Metges Road in Johnstown.

Furious local residents who appealed Meath County Council's granting of planning permission for the development to Hunt Capital Ltd will be relieved their appeal has been successful.

The plans included 99 apartments, a commercial hub and sports facility on the 0.97 hectares site as well as a car park with 205 spaces. The development consisted of five buildings of up to five-storeys in height.

The application met strong opposition from local residents, with 20 submissions lodged, including a community one with 450 signatures.

Among the concerns raised by the residents were the increased traffic on an already congested routes as well as the scale of the development which they felt was totally out of character. 

In its ruling on the case, An Bord Pleanala said found that the proposed development would "constitute a substandard form of urban development".

"By reason of the response to the site context, the predominance of ground level parking and elevational and boundary treatments to Metges Road, coupled with proximity of development to the northern boundary and western tree line, lack of permeability across the site, and lack of open space in terms of quality, nature and location, the proposed development would constitute a substandard form of urban development," the ruling stated.