Appeals board rejects cafe restaurant plan for former Mayo pub premises

A PROPOSAL to redevelop a former pub in the heart of Westport town has been rejected.

Developer Harold Conway sought to demolish the former Nolan's public house on James Street, along with its residential building, to be replaced with a new café restaurant on the ground floor, and a two-bed apartment above it.

Mayo County Council refused planning permission for the project and that decision has been upheld following an appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

The developer's submission to the appeals board set out how a renovation would not achieve the conservation aims of the planning authority and would have a negative effect on regeneration.

The proposed living over the shop arrangement represented a planning gain for the area, day and night.

A condition report showed that preservation was impossible, even in a renovation scenario. The new structure would be a like for like replacement of the existing building in respect of the street front, with a slight rear extension behind and hidden from the street.

The commission disagreed with its inspector's finding that planning be granted and turned it down.

It felt the removal of historic buildings, particularly the elements fronting onto public streetscapes, erodes the individual historic elements that collectively contribute to the special character of Architectural Conservation Areas.

An architectural assessment wasn't submitted and the board could not be not satisfied, based on the condition report, that the front portion of the building cannot be salvaged and incorporated into any future redevelopment of the site.