Plan vetoed for blocking Rock of Cashel view

PLANS for a multi-million-euro hotel and commercial centre have been turned down by An Bord Pleanála — as the project would have blocked views of the Rock of Cashel.

Objectors who fought a long-running campaign against the development said they are “overjoyed by the decision”.

Last February Cashel Town Council granted planning permission, with conditions, to Clonmel-based CMS Developments to build a five-storey, 83-bedroom hotel on the former convent grounds at St Francis Abbey.

The plan also included an adjoining commercial centre and offices.

The town council acquired the land some years ago from the Presentation Sisters having informed them it would seek a Compulsory Purchase Order if the sisters tried to sell it to another party.

A number of locals started a campaign to preserve the land as a park, as it is the last remaining greenfield site in the town centre.

However, the council didn’t agree, and subsequently sold the land to CMS Developments before granting it planning permission.

The Save Our Town Park Committee had objected to Bord Pleanála.

The planning appeals board decided that the scale of the development would interfere with views of the Rock of Cashel, one of the country’s most visited tourist attractions.

In addition, Board Pleanála said the plan could also interfere with the town’s archaeological heritage, especially in relation to its medieval defences.

Part of the town walls, which have yet to be fully excavated, are believed to lie within the area which was earmarked for the hotel and commercial centre.

Committee spokesman Richard O’Brien said Bord Pleanála had rightly adjudicated that the site was wholly unsuitable for such large-scale development.

“It upheld our appeal on the grounds of the development being injurious to the medieval town defences, being obtrusive from the Rock of Cashel national monument, being inappropriate to the surrounding protected buildings and creating unnecessary traffic congestion,” said Mr O’Brien.

He said campaigners would be lobbying town councillors to have the land redesignated for amenity purposes.

The committee says it has no objection to a hotel and commercial centre being built, but on the outskirts of the town.

Meanwhile, Tom Hayes TD said the town didn’t have sufficient tourist accommodation. The Fine Gael TD for South Tipperary urged the town council and the community to work towards a solution, saying the Rock of Cashel alone had more than 250,000 visitors annually.