Mairead Ronan to scale back holiday home plans after locals object to Dermot Bannon design

Gordon Deegan

Celebrity architect Dermot Bannon has to dramatically scale back extension and revamp plans by broadcaster Mairead Ronan if she is to secure the green light for an extended family home in Dunmore East.

Waterford City and County Council wrote to the applicants, Máiréad and Louis Ronan, requesting the two to submit revised proposals that “should include for a reduction in scale and massing of the proposed development”.

In December, the Ronans lodged plans drawn up by Dermot Bannon Architects for a house extension that was almost three times the size of the couple’s existing home in the Waterford seaside town.

The Ronans were applying for a scaled down version of the Dermot Bannon designed scheme that was refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanala in November 2023 in a bid to overcome planners and locals’ concerns.

However, the scheme failed to dampen local opposition against the scheme with locals in Dunmore East lodging four objections with Waterford City and County Council.

The new Bannon plan includes a 165sq m extension compared to the 60sq m home currently in place where 46sq m of the existing home all be retained.

The plan 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, which 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 said: “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.”

However in a major blow to the Ronan plans, the council told them that the location of the site is in a prominent location in the centre of Dunmore East and within an architectural conservation srea (ACA).

The council said that because of this, it has concerns on the proposed development in terms of negative impact on the streetscape and the wider ACA.

In the revised proposals, the council said the proposed extension “should be subordinate to the main dwelling and not over dominate the character of the existing more modest property and historic terrace”.

The council said that in addition, “any proposed development should appear less prominent in the streetscape and should maintain and enhance the special character of the ACA”.

Neighbours Valerie and Trevor Walsh at Curraghmore Terrace were successful in halting the original plan when lodging an appeal to An Bord Pleanála. In their new objection, the Walshs contended that the extension would amount “to the creation of an almost entirely new house".

They said: “Whereas the original house is some 60 sq. metres with two bedrooms, the new structure will extend to some 240 sq. metres resulting in the extension being some 4 times the size of the original building.

The Walshs said the proposal would be a “significant and unacceptable intensification” in the area.

In another objection, Dunmore East resident Patrick Cregg told the council that the scheme “would clearly cause loss and damage to the special character of the terrace in terms of settings and vistas”.

John Battles of Dunmore East told the council that the proposal would detract from the special character of the existing terrace and was “not suited to the surrounding streetscape especially when placed on such a small site”.

Tom O’Regan of Curraghmore Terrace, Dunmore East – who also objected to the 2021 scheme – told the council that the scale of the proposed extension was “not sympathetic to the modest size of the original property and would set an undesirable precedent for similar sized dwellings”

He said in order to create additional amenity space the proposal contains a first floor terrace and this feature “would have the potential to cause noise nuisance and overlooking”.

Planning consultant for the couple David Mulcahy told the council that the design of the proposed extension “has been significantly altered from the previous refusal with the bulk and massing reduced”.

He said 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 pointed 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”.

The application will become live once more after the Ronans have lodged their scaled-down plans.