Plans to build nearly 90 homes near Waterford City on hold after objection

The two-storey houses would primarily be three-bed homes, with a mix of two and four-bed options, on the 5.47-hectare site.

Plans to build 89 new houses and a creche in a suburb of Waterford city have been put on hold after the case was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

Waterford City and Council had given approval to SuirBay Ltd for the development on lands at Knockboy on the Dunmore Road to the south-east of the city centre.

The two-storey houses would primarily be three-bed homes, with a mix of two and four-bed options, on the 5.47-hectare site.

A traffic impact assessment from developers said there would be “very limited traffic growth” on the site, and that car ownership “would need to dramatically increase at the site in order to have a significant effect on the capacity of the surrounding road network”.

Following a number of requests from the council requiring further information, Waterford City and County Council planners recommended approving the development for planning permission. The plans got the green light in February.

However, they have now been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

In a letter to the planning body on behalf of a couple who own zoned land adjoining the development, a number of concerns were cited.

It stated: “It is hoped that the local authority will consider future site access requirements to our client’s land from adjoining developments to mitigate the impact of multiple additional points of access along the already busy Dunmore Road.

“And to ensure our clients; lands, zoned as they are for housing, are not landlocked or precluded from development as a result of a third-party private development.

“The above observations were made on the file to ensure that any potential negative implications from adjoining developments would be considered and mitigated to ensure that the development potential of our clients’ zoned land is not harmed.” 

An Bord Pleanála has set a date of July 10 for its decision. However, with the planning body admitting it has a "significant" backlog of cases, it is not certain that this date will be met.