AN APPEAL has been launched against the granting of planning permission for a new social housing development on the north of the city.
46 apartments were given the go ahead by Limerick City and County Council to be built on New Road in Thomondgate by Tinwat Holdings in partnership with Clúid Housing Association.
The original application drew numerous complaints and objections from locals.
The development would consist of 23 one-bedroom apartments, 14 two-bedroom apartments in a four-storey block, while a second three-storey block would house nine two-bedroom apartments.
Developers were also looking for permission to construct an ESB substation as well as a bin store, bicycle store, and a landscaped biodiversity park.
The development was appealed to An Bord Pleanála by St Munchin’s Umbrella Group on numerous grounds, including that the development would be inappropriate for the “sensitive ecological site” that backs onto the banks of the River Shannon.
Issues with Japanese Knotweed on the site, concerns over the lack of community that will be established with the new development, and concerns over traffic and parking were also raised in the objection.
Local residents also lodged their objections to the development with the Council, stating that the new apartment blocks would be too high in contrast to the mostly single-storey houses that make up New Road.
Residents also raised concerns about the volume of traffic that 46 new apartments would lead to, as well as the noise and pollution caused during the construction process.
One objection said that the amount of windows that would face onto their property would “leave us completely cornered and the back gardens of our homes completely vulnerable, which in turn will be entirely showcasing our personal lives and belongings”.
A letter signed by 42 of the local residents was also submitted to Council planners citing the same concerns and urging the local authority not to grant permission for the development.
Privacy was another concern of residents of New Road with many concerned that the height of the new apartment blocks would encroach on the privacy of their homes.
Clúid Housing is a not-for-profit charity providing over 10,000 affordable homes to those in need of housing.
A decision on the appeal is due by next February.
