ABP Rejects Two Style Bawn House Appeals

Style Bawn House THURS25APR24

atest press release from The Delgany Committee, issued on Thursday April 25th 2024…

Delgany Community Council is happy with today’s decision of An Bord Pleanála to uphold Wicklow County Council’s decisions to refuse planning permission for two proposed developments at the site of Stylebawn House.

The applicant, RGRE J&R Stylebawn Limited, applied to Wicklow County Council in April 2022 for permission to build 42 apartments on part of the Stylebawn site in Delgany village. They also sought permission to convert the house itself as well as the Gardener’s Cottage into two dwelling houses.

The second application for 99 units on the remainder of the site was lodged the following week. Wicklow County Council refused permission for both and the applicant appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála back in August 2022.

The decision took a long time due to lack of staff and an increased workload at ABP. The refusal is not surprising given the sensitivity of the site and its location.Delgany Community Council welcomes the decision, we made submissions on behalf of the community to Wicklow County Council and followed up with submissions to An Bord Pleanála.

We are grateful to those who helped fund the cost of a professional planner to draft one of the submissions. The work involved in drafting is time consuming as it requires a detailed examination of the relevant documents as well as Local Area Plans and County Development Plans.

The main reasons for refusal are listed below:

1 Concerns regarding increased level of flooding upstream and downstream on Three Trouts Stream

2 The fact that the scale, nature and form of the proposed development would damage the character and setting of the Stylebawn House.

3 Failure of proposed apartment block to comply with the relevant design standards.

4 Concerns regarding the proposed road layout on the site.

5 Insufficient information regarding potential impact on watercourses and biodiversity on the site.

6 Inadequate provision of communal and public open space.

7 Failure to comply with relevant childcare requirements.

The applicant can appeal this decision by seeking permission for a Judicial Review in the High Court. We think it is more likely that they will return with revised applications having learnt some lessons from today’s decisions.

You can trace Style Bawn Houses’ slow decline here, and check out its rich history here.