Successful appeal against refusal for 20 apartments in centre of Dundalk

An Coimisiún Pleanála (formerly An Bord Pleanála) has overturned the decision by Louth County Council to refuse planning permission for 20 apartments at Francis Street in Dundalk.

Nera Investments Ltd had applied to Louth County Council in November 2024, for planning permission for the development on lands at 23 and 24 Francis Street, Dundalk.

The applicant sought the go ahead for a six-storey over basement mixed-use development, comprising the provision of a ground floor office and a retail unit, along with ten, one-bed apartments and ten, two-bed apartments. 

The planning application also provided for the demolition of the existing two-storey office and retail buildings on the site; and bin, bicycle and bulky goods storage along with storage and plant rooms at basement level.

Louth County Council made the decision to refuse planning permission for the development in August 2025, with the local planning authority giving five reasons for its refusal.

Read also: Plans to remove apartment block in Louth to make way for houses

Included in its decision, Louth County Council said that the proposed development "has not been revised to address concerns regarding the internal layout and density. The Planning Authority requested a reduction in unit numbers to improve residential quality and address awkward room configurations."

It went on to say that: "The applicant did not make any changes and instead relied solely on compliance with minimum standards. This approach fails to meet the qualitative expectations set out in Policy Objective HOU 20 of the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027 (LCDP) (as varied), which requires a design-led approach to sustainable residential development, and Section 13.8.27 of the LCDP, which emphasises the importance of functional and well-designed apartment layouts.

"The lack of meaningful improvement results in a substandard living environment and constitutes overdevelopment of the site."

Other reasons for refusing planning permission included that: the applicant had not improved the provision of bulky goods storage or demonstrated that the proposed area is sufficient to serve all residential units; they had not provided any communal open space and has not made improvements to justify its omission; and that they had not revised the bin storage provision to adequately support a threebin system for the proposed 20 apartments and two commercial units.

An Coimisiún Pleanála made the decision to grant planning permission for the development on 30 March 2026, subject to 21 planning conditions.

In its reasons for granting planning permission, it said that: "Having regard to the location of the site on lands zoned 'BI – Town or Village Centre’, to the planning policies, objectives and development standards of the Louth County Development Plan 2021-2027, to the Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments Guidelines for Planning Authorities (DoHLGH, 2023), to the Sustainable Residential Development and Compact Settlements Guidelines for Planning Authorities (DoHLGH, 2024), to the nature of the vacant, infill site in the town centre, to the pattern of development in the area, to the extant permission granted in respect of the site under planning register reference 24/60024 and to available infrastructural capacity, it is considered that, subject to compliance with the conditions set out below, the proposed development would constitute an acceptable form of development at this location, would provide for an acceptable standard of future residential amenity and would not seriously injure the amenities of adjoining properties, would not give rise to significant impacts on Roden Place Architectural Conservation Area or on the character and setting of adjacent Protected Structures.

"The proposed development would, therefore, be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area."