Hospital expansion and large scale employment objective of Offaly County Council

IT is the objective of Offaly County Council to support the development of ''employment zones'' at Arden Road in Tullamore to cater for the expansion of the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore and its continued development as a Teaching/University Hospital, and or a Bio Technology Park with linkages to the hospital.

This was one of the reasons Offaly planning authority refused an applicant seeking to build 60 dwellings on the Arden Road in Tullamore.

A proposal by Sheila Doorley, was for a mix of 12 one-bedroom apartments, 16 two-bedroom terrace houses, one three-bedroom detached house, 28 three-bedroom semi-detached houses, two four bedroom semi-detached houses and one five bedroom detached house.

The local planning authority said the proposed development is located in an area where the stated zoning objective development plan (the Offaly County Development Plan 2021-2027) is for a business or technology park. The objective is to facilitate strategic large scale employment.

Offaly local authority said the proposed development would materially contravene the zoning objective. The proposed development would therefore be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

In addition it described the design as being dominated by roads resulting in a poor design concept that is substandard in its form and layout. It said it fails to establish a sense of place and includes a poor quality of urban and architectural design.