Four new flats refused for Kildare village

A PROPOSAL to convert a two-storey dormer extension behind Lock 13 from its present multi-use occupancy into four one-bed apartments has been refused after the applicants couldn’t satisfy planners over seven points of contention.

Castlewood Taverns Ltd – the parent company of Lock 13 – applied in December to demolish the dormer extension immediately behind the landmark gastropub on the Clane side, converting what is a hairdressers and existing apartment in one building, with a bookmakers and offices in the second one into the four residential units.

However, as early as February, the council planners had asked Castlewood’s architects for further information (FI) on the site’s layout plan and site analysis regarding existing boundaries, levels, outbuildings and balconies. They were also dissatisfied with the submitted roof and landscaping plans, as well as provisions for adequate bike storage to the rear, and asked Castlewood to furnish updated drawings.

Because of the ‘prominent and highly visible site’, the applicant was also asked to engage a qualified conservation architect, as well as a structural engineer to report on the proposed demolition of the two chimney breasts.

Considering the proximity to the Grand Canal, the planners also ruled that the lack of any surface water drainage design or calculations was a serious omission and would need to be addressed.

All these revisions were returned to Kildare County Council by July; however, by 19 August the presiding planning officer deemed that the site plans and analysis were ‘not satisfactory’ and the landscaping plan ‘not considered of sufficient detail’.

Both the county council’s heritage section and the planning department had unanswered concerns about ‘the impact of the design on the historic fabric at this very location within Sallins’ and refused the application.