South Roscommon ‘enterprise park’ refused planning retention

A South Roscommon company's appeal against a planning retention refusal relating to commercial units on a 2.2 hectare site in Ballydangan has been turned down by An Coimisiún Pleanála.

The appeal was lodged on behalf of steel fabrication firm Greene's Forge Ltd in respect of a change of use at a former agricultural co-op in Dolanstown, Ballydangan.

The site, described by the appellant as Ballydangan Enterprise Park, is located along the R446 (old Athlone to Galway Road), approximately 16 kilometres west of Athlone town and 11 kilometres east of Ballinasloe.

After a planning retention refusal by Roscommon County Council in August 2024, Greene's Forge Ltd appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála the following month seeking retention of a change of use of buildings at the site for "storage, respository and logistics uses" while also seeking permission to retain new buildings and structures at the site.

The appeal heard that the site in question contained four commercial buildings, blocks A to D.

The largest of these, Block A, was 1,292 square metres and was divided into two units which were being used as a storage repository for the supply of goods and as a storage, distribution and training facility.

Appeal documentation stated that Block A was being used as the headquarters and showroom of Yaskawa Ireland Ltd, which was described as "a leading supplier of industrial robotic equipment of world-class quality for automation solutions".

Block B on the Ballydangan site was "a self-storage and repository facility" containing "53 external self-storage containers" while the remaining two blocks were both providing "storage repository uses".

Permission for retention of the development had been refused by Roscommon County Council in 2024, because it said the proposed uses represented "a significant departure from the permitted economic origins of the development as an agricultural co-operative".

The local authority argued that the applicant was now using the site to "provide facilities and uses which are not related to the rural area" and that these "would be more appropriately located on serviced, zoned lands".

In its appeal against the council's refusal, Greene's Forge Ltd argued that the Ballydangan Enterprise Park facility was "aligned with national, regional and local" planning policy.

It pointed out that the National Planning Framework provides for "diversification of the rural economy into new sectors and services".

The company said Roscommon County Council's decision to refuse retention permission had been based on an "overly narrow" definition of rural economic activity, and one which "does not reflect the broader scope of rural economic diversification and enterprise".

The appellant also pointed out that "there are a number of commercial businesses located further along the R446 and many of these have no direct link to agriculture or other rural resource-based activities".

Furthermore, it said the local economic benefits of retaining the current units on site were "significant" and it said the council had raised "no issues" in relation to the "visual impact, design and siting, access, traffic safety and site services" of the development.

However, a report by An Comisiún Pleanála inspector Fergal Ó Bric, who visited the site last March, concurred with the reasons given by Roscommon County Council for refusing retention permission.

Mr Ó Bric said there was a clear objective in the Roscommon County Development Plan to "align (the) population and employment growth" of the county within designated growth centres.

He said Ballydangan was "not identified as a growth settlement within the plan, and neither is it identified as an area for employment or population growth".

The Coimisiún Pleanála inspector said he did not consider the activities taking place at the site to be "small scale" in nature.

"Dolanstown is a rural area and is only partially serviced," his report stated. "There are no public foul nor surface water sewers in this area, the lands are not zoned for commercial nor industrial purposes, and neither are the lands identified within the current Roscommon County Development Plan as an area for economic development or as a Business/Enterprise Park."

In its decision, signed off on January 5, An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld its inspector's recommendation to refuse permission for the development, stating that the Roscommon County Development Plan, for 2022 to 2028, had a policy objective of only allowing enterprises in rural areas that were small-scale or had specific requirements that could only be accommodated in a rural location.

The planning commission said it considered this policy "reasonable" and that allowing the proposed development would "contravene the policy objectives of the development plan".

It agreed that the present use of the site was "a significant departure" from "the permitted economic origins of the development as an agricultural co-operative".

An Coimisiún Pleanála concluded that the commercial activities at the site were "not specifically related to this rural area," and would be more appropriately located on "serviced, zoned lands" in an urban area.