Anti-social behaviour concerns over new Westport hostel

PROPOSAL  Planning permission for a hostel located between the vacant Railway Tavern pub and Westport Railway Station has been appealed by residents to An Bord PleanΡla.

Anton McNulty

RESIDENTS living close to a proposed new hostel in Westport that could sleep close to 100 people believe it could lead to anti-social behaviour and vandalism in the area.
Last month, Mayo County Council granted planning permission to a Westport-based building and civil engineering company to construct an eleven-bedroom hostel close to the railway station on Altamont Street, Westport.
The construction of the proposed hostel, to be known as The Old Steelworks Hostel, will include the demolition of an existing vacant industrial building located between the railway station and the former Railway Tavern Pub. Council planners had initially expressed concern regarding the design of the original plan, but permission was granted after the design was revised to the satisfaction of the planners.
However, residents living in close proximity to the proposed development have appealed Mayo County Council’s decision to An Bord PleanΡla.
Rosaleen McGahern, along with over 20 other residents, claimed that the proposed development ‘will be seriously injurious to the amenities of a residential area and prejudicial to proper planning’.

Elderly residents
In their appeal, the residents stated that the area was inhabited by many elderly people and they fear that the hostel will lead to increased noise pollution late at night, when patrons of the hostel return after socialising in town, as well as anti-social behaviour and vandalism.
“We say that development of this nature should be confined to the area zoned ‘Town Centre’ or an area zoned ‘Residential/Commercial’. Altamont Street is a residential area and we say that the proposed development runs contrary to the local authority’s own Town Development Plan and the objectives concerning residential areas,” they wrote.
The developers, Gibbons Building and Civil Engineering Ltd, had initially sought permission to construct a 799.2-square-metre, two-and-a-half storey, nine-bedroom hostel with ancillary services and parking.
The architect for the West Mayo Municipal District recommended changes to the scale and massing of the building, especially the second floor, the omission of onsite parking and the retention of the entire stone wall along the site frontage.
Changes to the plan were made, resulting in an increase in the floor area and an increase in the number of bedrooms from nine to eleven. The proposed vehicular entrance was also omitted and replaced with a pedestrian gateway leading onto a paved amenity and bike parking area.
The change to the design was approved by the municipal district architect. Regarding parking, the local authority planners stated that parking could be accommodated within nearby non-pay car parks.
The hostel will consist of eleven bedrooms consisting a mixture of family, mixed and female dorms with a total capacity for 99 people. It will also have a self-catering kitchen, lounge and outdoor amenity area.
When granting permission, the planners stated that as the proposed development, which is located adjacent to both the railway station and the Greenway, is ‘an ideal location for a tourist hostel’.