The now long awaited multi-storey car park has finally been approved for Clonmel, Co.Tipperary.
An Bord Pleanala has upheld planning permission granted by Clonmel Borough Council for the development of the former Clonmel Arms Hotel site.
The plans, by BORC Partnership, had been appealed by both An Taisce and the Departmentof the Environment due to the impact on the Main Guard heritage site.
The permission, which includes mixed development, has been welcomed by the majority of Clonmel’s local population.
The Council had granted planning permission to the BORC Partnership to build a 500-space car park over nine levels, a 2770 sq m shopping centre and an 80-bedroom hotel on the one-acre site in the town centre, currently occupied by the old Clonmel Arms Hotel.
The hotel was a listed Georgian building and the proposed development would have involved its partial demolition. Councillors in Clonmel, Co Tipperary had already removed this Georgian building from the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) in order to allow the development of this multi-storey car park, hotel and shopping centre, which was refused by An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála had upheld appeals by the Department of the Environment and An Taisce against the then controversial €40 million development, which had been approved by Clonmel Borough Council.
An Bord Pleanála had originally objected to the development on the grounds of excessive scale and height of the development in the historic town centre and that there were no exceptional circumstances that would permit the demolition of a protected structure. In its earlier ruling the board had stated that the development would have an adverse impact on a nearby national monument, the restored 17th century customs house, the Main Guard, and was contrary to council’s own development plan for the town.
Then, Bord Pleanála inspector Graham Carlisle had stated:
“The monolithic nature and scale of the proposed development would be out of keeping with its surroundings and would significantly detract from the historic centre of Clonmel in general, and the setting of a national monument,”
The town had been devastated by An Bord Pleanála’s decision, which had been prompted by the unnecessary interference by the Department of the Environment and An Taisce.
It is understood that some changes to the original plans have now been agreed with this new approval.
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