Newbridge nursing home to double in size

A NURSING home between Newbridge and Naas is set to double in size after getting the green light from planners.

Willowbrook Nursing Home in Borohard – beside the Newbridge United football grounds – made the application through its parent company Galteemore Developments Ltd last March to expand it residency from 47 residents to 88, and got the answer last week.

This will require the partial demolition of the existing single- and two-storey nursing home on the 0.7-hectare (1.75 acres) site, an outbuilding to the rear, two storage sheds, two water tanks and one container.

This is to be replaced with a two- and three-storey extension to the side and rear of the remaining nursing home to provide an extended capacity of 88 single occupancy en-suite rooms.

The rebuild will also see the addition of two courtyard gardens, a landscaped garden, and two terraces – one each on the first floor and second floors.

The development will also see the alteration to the internal access road and the provision of 29 car parking spaces.

Permission for this was not a slam-dunk, however, as the developers were asked last May for further information with regards to the public lighting, a manhole cover, the design of the roof, the watermain supply for firefighting, the drainage network, the utility building, and the proposed floor plans.

However, Galteemore was able to provide acceptable solutions to all of these enquiries.

‘While the scale of the change is significant, it is considered the stepped increase in height is acceptable and unlikely to have a significant impact on the amenity of adjacent land or dwellings,’ said the council’s planning department.

‘Separation distance between the development and the adjacent dwelling to the south is about 80m, and there are no significant overlooking concerns arising.’