Company behind Limerick's Adare Manor loses planning row after local opposition to roadway

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning retention for widening and lengthening of existing internal farm roadway which was carried out without planning permission

Adare Manor, owned by JP McManus, is set to host the Ryder Cup in 2027. 

The company that operates JP McManus’s luxury five-star Adare Manor resort in Co Limerick has lost out in a planning row with neighbouring landowners.

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning retention to the operator of the Adare Manor resort, Tizzard Holdings UC, for a widening and lengthening of existing internal farm roadway served by an existing farm entrance at Knockanes, Adare.

The company widened the roadway without obtaining planning permission and Limerick County Council granted the retention application last year with the condition the road be used for agricultural purposes only.

The road is located to the east of the 12th hole of the golf course, which is due to stage the Ryder Cup in 2027.

However, the permission was stalled after local landowners, Breda and Michael Mann, appealed the council decision to An Bord Pleanála.

Planning retention refused

Now, the appeals board has refused planning retention after concluding Tizzard Holdings UC’s response to the appeal "does not include a sufficient justification for the need of a roadway of such an excessive width and scale, solely for existing agricultural purposes serving only three fields with no farmyard or farm buildings”.

The board pointed out the proposal was within the open un-zoned landscape of this designated "agricultural lowlands" area of Limerick.

The board said “the scale and extent of works at this location have not been justified and would, therefore, constitute haphazard development and would not be acceptable in principle”.

The board also refused planning permission after concluding sufficient information had not been provided concerning the "as built" roadway design to demonstrate surface water would be managed such that it would be collected and disposed of within the site and would not discharge onto adjoining properties.

One of the objectors to the retention application was local landowner Conor Geaney, who claimed the roadway was used as an entry and exit for more than 1,000 cars a day between 6am and 9pm and for about 100 heavy goods vehicle movements on the five days around the JP McManus golf pro-am event.