Plans for apartments at old Marist building remain afoot as new planning application lodged

An extension of planning permission has been sought to demolish part of the old St Mary’s secondary school to develop an apartment block and eight duplex housing units.

An application to extend the planning permission was filed late last week by Armagh Construction Limited, who were originally granted permission to build the units by An Bord Pleanala in early 2017.

The plans will see parts of the old Marist secondary school demolished, including the sports hall and science block, alongside outbuildings next to the protected St Mary’s building.

The developers are seeking to build a three-storey apartment block, comprising of nine apartments. Six of these are planned to be one-bedroom while the remaining would be two-bedroom.

Each of the apartments would either have a balcony or a terrace, with solar panels on the roof of the building.

The eight duplex units are all planned to be three storeys, with eight two-bedroom ground floor apartments and eight three-bedroom apartments on the first and second floors.

According to the application, there will be private space behind each duplex, as well as private enclosed terraces on the first floor.

25 storage and bike sheds are also being planned, with a pedestrian access path to the apartments.

A total of 58 car parking spaces have also been sought to serve the development, as well as seven parking spots for the existing Cerdon community.

The developers are also seeking to change the existing Gospel Hall at St Marys and turn it to community use.

They are also seeking to demolish the existing boundary wall to Nicholas Street.

When the new housing project was first proposed in 2016, there were several objections to the project sent to An Bord Pleanala, before ABP recommended changes and granted planning permission.