Appellant raises conflict of interest concerns in planning decision for west Mayo hotel

An appeal has been lodged against the decision by Mayo County Council to grant planning permission for the extension of the Wyatt Hotel in Westport.

Mayo County Council granted planning permission last month to The Wyatt Hotel Unlimited to develop a three storey extension over a semi-basement car park to the rear and sides of the existing hotel with a total gross floor area of 5,333 square metres.

An appeal against this decision was lodged last week with An Coimisiún Pleanála by Kieran Ryan of Ballinlough, Kilmeena.

The Wyatt development will comprise 72 additional bedrooms including altering some existing bedrooms, as well as 88 new basement car park spaces, and 20 new public car park spaces at surface level off Church Street. 

Part of the development will be located on lands off Church Street behind the Westport Leisure Centre which was owned by Mayo County Council and was controversially sold to the Wyatt Hotel for €675,000.

In an appeal lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála, Mr Ryan expressed concern that there may be a conflict of interest due to the local authorities involvement in the sale of the land and felt it was proper that An Coimisiún Pleanála make the final decision.

READ: 'An accident that shouldn't have happened' - Mayo Cllrs call for pier safety action

“While I am not suggesting any wrongdoing whatsoever on behalf of either Mayo County Council or The Wyatt Hotel – and I welcome constructive cooperation between local government and private businesses – I do not believe that Mayo County Council can be seen to be truly objective party to this planning application, and I think it is prudent that An Coimisiún Pleanála should review the planning decision, or at least the specific aspects of it.

“A review by An Coimisiún Pleanala would put to bed any concerns about Mayo County Council's objectivity in this decision and would strengthen public confidence in the overall planning process,” he stated in the appeal.

Mayo County Council granted planning for the development subject to 13 conditions and while welcoming many of these conditions, Mr Ryan also felt there were three broad areas which he believed were not properly considered.

These included road safety concerns regarding what he believes is an 'unsafe' proposed new loading bay at Peter Street and 'failure to assess the road safety risks at the Leisure Centre car park exit to James Street'.

Mr Ryan also considered the Traffic and Transportation Assessment Report prepared for the application to be 'flawed' as he believes it fails to properly assess the impact of traffic exiting the proposed hotel car park via the Leisure Centre car park onto James Street.

He also addressed what he sees as the 'potential overdevelopment of hospitality' in Westport which he feels is leading to the housing crisis in the town.

“A pattern which is being repeated across the town is that hospitality businesses in Westport are purchasing houses and apartments to operate as short term lets and as accommodation for their own employees,” he claimed in his appeal.

He added: “I completely understand and accept that hospitality and tourism are cornerstones of Westport's economy, and that hundreds of people are employed by those industries, but the growth of those sectors cannot be at the expense of having a sustainable community in Westport.

“While it may seem unfair to single out the Wyatt Hotel's planning application in relation to this issue of unsustainable development, we have to draw the line somewhere and address these problems head-on, or else face the slow demise of our local town from the vibrant community it is now into a hollowed-out theme park, where visitors stay in the former homes of 'locals' and the workers commute into the town from whatever part of Mayo they can still afford to live in.”

In the planning application to Mayo County Council lodged by Cox Power Architects on behalf of the Wyatt Hotel, they stated that it is expected that the new development will create an additional 35 new jobs to the hotel and 'will substantially increase the number of visitors and footfall in the town benefitting commercial, cultural, sporting and leisure activities for all'.