Broadcaster Máiréad Ronan has made a fresh bid to secure planning permission for her Dermot Bannon-inspired renovation and extension of her family home at Dunmore East, Co Waterford.
In new plans lodged with Waterford City and County Council, the podcaster and former radio presenter has once more enlisted the services of the celebrity architect’s firm to design the Ronan home revamp and extension.
As part of the new effort to secure planning permission in the three year, five month planning battle, Máiréad and husband Louis Ronan have scaled down their plan in order to address planners’ concerns over a previous planned house extension for the same site in the Co Waterford tourist hot-spot.
The new application, which comprises a partial demolition and a two-storey extension to the side and rear of the existing, end-of-terrace home, comes more than one year after An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to the Ronans for their original scheme. The appeals board refused planning permission to the Dermot Bannon Architects designed 2,518 sq ft extension – which was almost a four-fold increase on the existing 648 sq ft home.
The new Bannon plan comprises a reduced 1,778 sq ft extension and the scheme involves the four proposed bedrooms to be located at ground-floor level with the kitchen/dining area and living area at first-floor level. The scheme also involves a first-floor roof terrace to the rear and this will be screened with fencing to ensure no overlooking of the neighbouring home.
In a 22-page planning report lodged with the application, planning consultant David Mulcahy has stated: “The existing house on the site is notably small in terms of floor area and it is essential for the applicant to expand same in order to facilitate a modern family home.”
The Mulcahy planning report states that the total gross floor area of the new home will be 2,275 sq feet, compared to 3,108 sq ft for the planning application that was refused in November 2023. Mr Mulcahy states that the design of the proposed extension “has been significantly altered from the previous refusal with the bulk and massing reduced”. He states that the new design integrates successfully with the established context and is designed not to dominate or overpower the adjoining row of terrace dwellings.
Mr Mulcahy states that the previous application for an extension was refused by An Bord Pleanála due to the fact that the site is within an Architectural Conservation Area and the scale, massing and bulk of the proposal, relative to the small scale of the existing dwelling on the prominent corner site, at the end of an historic terrace, was considered to be unacceptable.
He said that the current application “seeks to overcome this reason for refusal by proposing a new extension design involving a reduced scale, massing and bulk”. He added that the present design “also seeks to mirror the existing gable end and present a more coordinated and appropriate façade to the public realm”.
Mr Mulcahy points out that the design “is notably less contemporary to the previous application from a visual perspective and therefore integrates better with its more traditional context”. Mr Mulcahy contends that the proposed development fully addresses the An Bord Pleanála refusal reasons, accords with the Waterford County Development Plan 2022-28 and represents proper planning and sustainable development of the area.
In a separate Architectural Heritage Impact Assessment, architect Orna Tubridy states the proposed addition to the home “provides a modern interpretation of the historic 1835 terrace houses and bookends this five-dwelling terrace successfully, while carefully referencing the historical building elements of the terrace”.
Ms Tubridy states that “the careful use of contemporary and contrasting materials with the play of volumes to the south and west elevations complement the existing building massing of the streetscape and adjoining streetscapes in the Architectural Conservation Area”.
The Ronans would have secured planning permission for the original proposal but for the intervention of neighbours who opposed the project. The couple first lodged their plan in August 2021 and Waterford City and County Council granted planning permission to the couple for the major home extension in July 2022.
However, the Ronans and Dermot Bannon Architects couldn’t proceed with the build after two appeals were lodged against the Council decision by other homeowners on the Curraghmore Terrace in Dunmore East.
Planning documentation shows that the Ronans purchased the home in May 2021.
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