Kildare planning go ahead for historic Leixlip house development

Kildare County Council has granted planned permissions for eleven apartments and retail units at Leixlip’s Main Street.

But some departments at the council raised issues and one recommended refusal of permission.

The planning application by Sabrina Macari, lodged on December 23, 2019, by architect Paul Tyndall, got the go ahead on November 17.

The proposal is to develop six properties at Main Street, Nos 29, 31,33, 35, 37 and 39.

 No 33 is the birthplace of Fenian, Major William Francis Roantree and only recently it was put on the Record of Protected Structures, following campaigning by Cllr Ide Cussen who had reminded council planners of its social and historic significance and its links to Roantree and his brother, James.

The council’s Conservation Officer, Peter Black, said that No 33, built around 1790, was the birthplace of Major William Francis Roantree.

 The Guinness built house was in “the early stage of dereliction” but was “structurally sound.” He described it as “an attractive and integral component of Main Street.”

Mr Black proposed that an architectural historian should provide a history of the existing terraced structure and the applicant should justify the proposal in relation to the Leixlip Architectural Conservation Area.

The permission conditions require that the building project be directed by an RIAI Conservation architect.

While town centre developments can be legally exempt from providing car parking, the council’s Transportation department raised concerns in February about the proposal by Ms Macari NOT to provide car parking.

It said there was a shortage of 20 car spaces.

On September 14, it recommended the council refuse permission.

The development is exempt from providing social housing, normally equivalent to 10% of the development, due to the size of the site, the file indicates.

Another condition is the payment of a development contribution of €21,454.