Council refuses permission for six-storey hotel in Kildare

Gordon Deegan

Kildare County Council has refused planning permission to controversial plans for a six storey 158 bedroom hotel for Kildare town.

The planning authority has refused planning permission to Murlyn Capital Investments for the hotel on a site at the junction of Nurney Rd and Monasterevin Rd at Kildare adjoining the Kildare Village site.

A planning report lodged with the application contended that a hotel “is perfect for this site in terms of location and in what it can contribute to the tourism of Kildare Town and surrounding area”.

The report stated that the planned hotel “will enhance the opportunity for the town to grow as a tourism destination by providing much needed additional accommodation with easy access off the M7 and M8”.

However, the council has refused planning permission after strong objections were lodged against the plan by the operator of the Kildare Village and Tesco Ireland.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) — which maintains the country’s national road system — also voiced its concerns over the hotel plan.

It told the Council that the proposal was at variance with official policy relating to the control of development on or affecting national roads. TII stated that a grant of permission would adversely affect the operation and safety of the national road network.

Kildare Village is home to well known brands such as Armani, Gym+Coffee, French Connection, Jimmy Choo, BOSS and Karl Lagerfeld and the operator of Kildare Village, Value Retail Dublin Ltd told the council that the hotel scheme “should be refused”.

On behalf of Value Retail Dublin, RMLA planning consultants stated that the hotel scheme is 23 metres in height and represents an overbearing and incongruent urban form when compared to the two-storey Kildare Village.

The objection contended that the excessive scale, bulk, massing and height is inappropriate for the site.

Tesco Ireland operates a ‘Superstore’ adjacent to the hotel site and also called on the Council to refuse planning permission.

In the objection drawn up by RMLA, it argued that the failure to provide car parking facilities for the planned hotel “will result in an overspill into the surrounding developments including the Tesco and Kildare Village private car parks, which will have a detrimental effect on those existing retail centres”.

RMLA also stated that Tesco Ireland “has serious concerns regarding pedestrian safety and the potential hazard that the proposed development will have on the existing operations at the Tesco service yard”.

In a separate objection, the Monasterevin Road Residents Association told the Council that it is ‘strenuously” objecting to the hotel.

However, the operator of Curragh Racecourse made a submission to the Council voting its support for the planned hotel.

The Curragh racecourse stages 23 race meetings a year attracting 85,000 race-goers in 2022.

Chief Executive of Curragh Racecourse Ltd, Brian Kavanagh stated that “a recurring message we get from our customers, when seeking feedback, is their difficulty in finding accommodation in the locality due to a shortage in availability of beds”.

The applicants can now appeal the council refusal to An Bord Pleanála.