Plans for new petrol station near Kildare landmark rejected

A COUPLE who sought to open a first service station in Allen in five years have had their plans refused by Kildare County Council.

“If this was approved it would set an undesirable precedent for a large scale commercial development on unzoned (agricultural) land, outside of designated settlement areas,” ruled the planners.

“It’s proximity to a staggered junction (Allen Cross) contravenes the County Development Plan (CDP), as does the non-provision of sustainable and publicly managed wastewater system.” They also felt that the scale of the proposal, the removal of significant boundary hedgerows on two sides, and failure to appreciate the “landscape character” of the historic location were all also contrary to the CDP.

Joseph Logan and Helena Boyd had submitted plans to Kildare County Council on 15 December for an eight-bay service station on a 1.03Ha (2.5ac) at Allen Cross on the main Newbridge-Allenwood Road (R415).

They hoped to build a single storey services building to contain a convenience store, an off-licence, a deli counter and kitchen, a coffee dock, some offices and a place for tourist information, as it is less than a kilometre (851m) from the summit of the historic Hill of Allen.

For the exterior, there was be a canopy planned over the eight fuelling bays, and the couple also planned a picnic area, a kid’s play area, bike and car parking, EV charge points, and a single bay for HGV re-fuelling.

However, all seven submissions from the locality were opposed to this development, and it looks like the planners heard them.

One of these was a total of 15 pages long, and protested: “The scale, intensity, and destination-style location of this development is fundamentally, and at odds with the core role and function of a rural settlement.

“Rather than reinforce the core of Allen as the focal point, this would introduce an isolated roadside commercial hub heavily reliant on car and HGV access, and independent of the village structure”.

The submission also complained that the increased traffic a “a serious accident black spot … would fundamentally undermine recent safety gains of the Council improvements at this crossroads”.

“This is grossly disproportionate to the capacity of the R415 in comparison to similar-sized Barack Obama Plaza, Galway, Portlaoise and Kinnegad Plazas, which are on on motorways”.

This submission also pointed out that four other county councils – Laois, Louth, Cork and Galway – have refused similar developments in the last 20 years.

In all, it took the planners nearly one third of their final Report to summarise the local’s objections, adding safety, environmental concerns, anti-social behaviour in relation to the 10pm closure of the takeaway, noise and light pollution, as well as archaeological impact.

The planners noted the proposal was not on zoned land, and that filling stations must be located on the outskirts of a town or village, within 50 and 60kph limits, whereas this location is on an 80kph limit.

“This development would compete and potentially undermine existing retail in Allen,” the council said.