(Redacted Personal Information)

Mullingar

Co. Westmeath

1st July 2022

Planning Department

Westmeath County Council

Mullingar

Co. Westmeath

Re: Construction of 22 no. Dwelling Units adjacent to Ashefield/ Abbeylands/ Green Road and St. Bridget’s Tce, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

Dear All,

We have been Owner /Occupiers of (redacted personal information), Co Westmeath for 21 years and wish to Object to the planned proposal to open the Cul de Sac in Ashefield for the new 22 unit housing estate planned to be built on the adjacent field between Ashefield and the Green Road. Our objections are based on four valid and important reasons outlined below:

Safety grounds : The access road on the original plans for the estate was only ever designed to facilitate the current number of houses which are on this road / Cul de Sac. This is clear to see as the gardens for the two end houses incorporate the full width of the road through the design and landscaping of the gardens and the dividing wall is the centre of the new planned access road. On other Cul de sacs in the estate gardens to not curve to meet in the middle, instead are left as complete “dead ends”. I would also like to point out that the original planning for Ashefield would have been approved by the Council and that being said the council’s approval indicates that there was never any intention to use this road as access to another development. If there was it should and would have been requested on the original plan. The increased traffic on this narrow road both during the building phase and the finished phase will leave it dangerous for the kids and residents of the street.

The Original Access Roads for the proposed site are through 1) O Growney Drive, 2) a pedestrian one on the Green Road which could be widened to allow car access and also 3) at St Bridgit Terrace so Ashefield should never have even been considered as an access road for this project. A multiple access site to different exit points should be considered through these existing access points and explored fully before an existing estate which has no access to this site, is to be used as a sole access point.

Property value, I purchased my home in this estate and paid a premium for the house as it was on a fully developed estate in a quiet cul de sac which I considered safer to raise my kids as they would be able to play close to the house in a safer environment where I could watch them safely, opposed to the other estates I looked at where the kids would have had to go to a green area out of view of the home which in these times is not a safe option in my view. We currently have a lovely safe community environment built up for our families which will be gone it this road is opened up.

I object to the manner in which this development has been planned, yes it has been done to the letter of the law but the execution has been far from honest and has many sinister undertones to it. Firstly the sign was erected in a home owned by the council and even the tenant of the home did not see or know about the planning prior to the sign been erected. Also on investigation this is a development which has been planned for some years and other areas have had their say on the access road and have been heard, where the residents of the cul de sac have had no communication from the council prior to the erection of the planning notice. I also feel from talking to the local councillors and the TD that this is a done deal in the councils eyes and the fact that it is section eight planning means that any objections will be ignored and planning will be granted as the only place an objection can be made is to the council, who owns this development so objection is futile. It feels like a dictatorship and as if the proposed plan is not bad enough you get the extra slap in the face as you have to pay for the objection that can be over ruled by the developer.

While we completely understand there is a need for housing in the Mullingar area , we are not objecting to the housing itself but we are objecting to the opening of the access road through Ashefield.

Why use a narrow cramped site inbetween older housing estates when there is many unfinished housing and empty site area with easier access in Mullingar that would not affect existing housing Eg, link road on the west of the town (linking industrial estate to Hospital ) , plenty of sites close to amenities ???

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter,

Kind regards

Ray & Bernie Rock

The construction of 22 no. Dwelling Units Adjacent to Ashfield/Abbeylands/Green Road and St Bridget’s Terrace, Mullingar, County Westmeath. - Submissions

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