Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick and his wife, Caitríona FitzPatrick, have lodged an appeal against a council decision to refuse planning permission to the couple for a home in Co Wicklow.
The proposed two-storey, four-bedroom house at Meadow Garden, Farm Lane in the Old Burnaby area of Greystones lies adjacent to a site where the FitzPatricks secured planning permission in the face of local opposition for a four-bedroom home last December, also at the Meadow Garden site, which lies close to Greystones Golf Club.
The FitzPatricks secured planning consent for that house only after An Bord Pleanála last December overturned the council decision to refuse permission.
However, locals opposed to the plan will be able to make submissions to the boars as observers over the FitzPatrick appeal.
In its original objection against the FitzPatrick proposal, chairman of the Burnaby Residents Association Liam Sweeney told the council the proposed development "would be out of character with the existing pattern of the area and would represent a crammed form of development".
Concerns
In refusing planning permission for the house, Wicklow County Council took on board the concerns of local residents and had regard to “the uncharacteristic design and form of the dwelling for the area, and the size of the application site and scale of the proposed dwelling”.
The council recommended refusal and stated the proposal to develop a home in a rear garden of a permitted dwelling would alter the character of the Burnaby Architectural Conservation Area.
Kevin Hughes, planning consultant for the FitzPatricks, however, told the council the proposed development "has been designed to the highest quality... to ensure that there is no detriment caused to the amenity of adjoining neighbours or the character and appearance of the area" and said the site's density is compliant with the council's vision for the site. A decision is due on the appeal in February.
