Mount Juliet housing development plan shot down
The owners of Mount Juliet have run into difficulties with planning authorities over plans to build housing on its par 3 golf course.
The hotel and golf resort has been told that plans to knock down trees to facilitate the development of new homes would detract from the character of the area.
MJBE Investments 3, the company which owns the Mount Juliet estate near Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, has been refused planning permission for 12 new residential units spread over three blocks on an area formerly used as a putting green and par 3 course.
An Bord Pleanála overturned the earlier decision of Kilkenny County Council to approve the development following a successful appeal from a number of parties, including residents.
The Mount Juliet Estate Residents Group claimed the company had chosen an unsuitable location for additional development and said the units would adversely impact on existing residential amenity, as well as affecting the value of their properties.
In addition, they said the loss of nine mature trees was “unacceptable”.
They also criticised the unauthorised removal of a par 3 course to facilitate the development which they claimed represented the loss of a valuable tourism and leisure asset.
An Bord Pleanála last year ruled that the removal of the course required planning permission.
The owners of Mount Juliet said the new homes were being used to support the overall development of the estate with any buyers required to become members of the club.
They claimed the putting green had fallen into disrepair and had been used sparingly in recent years.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed course hosted the Irish Open between 1993 and 1995.
Outlining its decision to refuse planning permission, An Bord Pleanála said the intention of Mount Juliet’s owners to place the new residential units for sale on the open market would contravene the Kilkenny County Development Plan 2014-2020, whose objective for the estate was to provide for the development of additional lodges associated with Mount Juliet’s tourism, recreational, and leisure functions.
