Green light for new council chamber and office space

3,220sqm two and three-storey extension will be built alongside Buvinda House at an estimated cost of up to €26m

Plans for a major extension to Meath Co Council's headquarters at Buvinda House to provide a new council chamber and additional office accommodation have been given the green light by an Bord Pleanala.

The new council chamber is the main feature of the design and the 3,220sqm two and three-storey extension also includes extra councillor office space, office space for 155 additional staff and a garden courtyard area.

The existing Buvinda house is a two-storey over basement office block amounting to 7,710sqm and was originally built as a call centre for Quinn Insurance. It was later bought by Meath Co Council and was refurbished and extended as the council headquarters in 2017.

A Natura Impact Statement was lodged with the application due to the site's close proximity to the River Boyne and River Blackwater Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA) from the western boundary of the site.

The Bord Pleanala inspector's report noted that three submissions were made on the plans including one by Cllr Emer Tóibín which said that the estimated cost of between €21m and €26m and this money would be better spent on social and affordable housing. She made the point that the existing council chamber space at Railway Street is manageable for one single council meeting per month and that hybrid meetings may a more suitable way of conducting council business moving forward.

A submission from the Development Applications Unit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage recommended that any grant of planning should include conditions in relation to monitoring of archaeology. The third submission was from a Johnstown resident saying the council already had another building in the area and making the point it was a waste of taxpayers money.

The inspector said the council's budget and finances was a matter for the Council and not Bord Pleanala, pointing out that the Board’s remit extends to assessing any application before it in accordance with the planner planning and sustainable development of the area including any potential adverse impact on the environment.

The inspector's report concluded that the proposed development, individually or in combination with other plans and projects would not adversely affect the integrity of the River Boyne and River Blackwater SAC and River Boyne and River Blackwater SPA, or any other European site, in view of the site’s Conservation Objectives.

The Board in its order considered that subject to compliance with the conditions set out, “the proposed development would not have significant effects on the environment or the community in the vicinity, would not give rise to a risk of pollution, would not be detrimental to the visual or landscape amenities of the area, would not seriously injure the amenities of property in the vicinity, would not adversely impact on the cultural archaeological and built heritage of the area and would not interfere with the existing land uses in the area”.

The board concluded that the “proposed development would, therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and it would not give rise to likely effects on the environment.”