Planning refusal for west Mayo house 'not merited' say An Coimisiún Pleanála
An Coimisiún Pleanála find that Westport man has social links to Rosbeg to allow him to build home beside siblings
A WEST Mayo man will be permitted to build a house beside his siblings outside Westport after An Coimisiún Pleanála overturned a decision by Mayo County Council to refuse planning permission.
In January, William Doheny was refused planning permission to construct a private dwelling house, domestic garage and farm stables on a site overlooking Clew Bay at Rosbeg, Westport.
The applicant was denied planning permission to build on a site adjacent to his brother and sister's homes because it was deemed he 'does not have a longstanding social link to this scenic coastal area' and granting planning permission would contravene the Rural Housing Objective 4 (RHO4) of the County Development Plan.
The decision was appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála which ruled that Mr Doheny had proved he had a long-standing social link to the Rosbeg area and the decision by Mayo County Council to refuse on these grounds was not merited in this case.
Mr Doheny who is aged in his mid twenties and grew up in the townland of Cloonagh approximately 3km from Rosbeg had proposed to build a house on a site adjacent to where his brother and sister had already built.
Planning permission for three houses on the Rosbeg site was granted in 2011 with the intention that each sibling would have the opportunity to build a home. The third house was never developed due to the fact Mr Doheny was a minor at the time but he lived with his sister in her home for the last number of years.
Two previous planning applications lodged in 2024 and 2025 by Mr Doheny to build on the site were refused due to non-compliance with the Rural Housing Objective. This objective states that housing applications 'within Mayo’s Coastal Areas and Lakeshores and within areas along scenic routes with designated scenic views, will be considered where the applicants can demonstrate a long-standing social link to the area concerned'.
In the appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála, Keith O'Connell, Chartered Engineer on behalf of Mr Doheny outlined that there was no objections to the application and over 20 residents in the immediate area signed a letter of support acknowledging that his client and his family is known to them.
Mr O'Connell claimed that Mayo County Council had not equally applied the policy set out by RHO4 and highlighted cases in Ballycroy and Belmullet to prove his case.
In the Belmullet case which was also successfully appealed, Mr O'Connell said the An Coimisiún Pleanála’s inspector stated that the Mayo County Development Plan does not define a time period for 'long-standing' nor does it qualify 'the area concerned' in the RHO4 requirement.
“In the light of RHO4's lack of definition of 'longstanding' and 'area', William's links are both longstanding by any standards and very close to the area, within which it is proposed to build,” he wrote in the appeal.
In his report, Ciarán Daly, Inspector with An Coimisiún Pleanála noted that Mayo County Council considered that family land at Boheh, Westport should be considered as an alternative site available that would avoid using the rural coastal site. The site is used for farming and in joint ownership and Mr Daly stated he did not consider it reasonable to expect the applicant to use the alternative site for a dwelling rather than the subject site.
Mr Daly said he was satisfied that Mr Doheny had demonstrated a long-standing social link to the area as required and recommended planning permission be granted subject to conditions.
The Commission of An Coimisiún Pleanála also found that development would be acceptable and would comply with the Rural Housing Objective of the Mayo County Development Plan and granted permission subject to conditions.
One of the conditions included a residency clause which stated that the dwelling shall be a place of permanent residence by the applicant and it will remain occupied for a period of at least seven years.