Residents of a Letterkenny housing estate next to a 42-acre site where a major ATU-led sports complex is to be located have raised serious concerns about aspects of the proposed development.
Residents of Hazelwood Drive say that, while broadly in support of the project, they are seriously concerned about some issues previously raised which have not been “adequately addressed”.
Hazelwood Drive residents have now lodged an objection to An Bord Pleanála and resubmitted to the planning body a submission previously lodged to Donegal County Council.
In early April, planning permission was granted, subject to 30 conditions, by the Council, but the matter will now be probed by An Bord Pleanála with a decision due to be made by early September.
Hazelwood Drive residents have implored planners to ensure that the input of “the community which will be most impacted by this development should not just be an afterthought or a box ticking exercise”.
They say that Donegal County Council’s positioning as a co-applicant for funding and contributor to the design of a draft master plan “creates an apprehension of predetermination in relation to consideration of the planning application”.
They add: “We trust our submission will be given due and impartial consideration.”
The residents said they wish to be supportive of ATU and the proposed development.
ATU made some changes to the initial plan, including: the elimination of a proposed pedestrian access via an open space between to houses; increasing the distance between the pedestrian pathway and the adjacent residential boundaries; and the inclusion of a 2.5m timber fence along the entire boundary with Hazelwood Drive.
“While these changes are welcome, the other issues have not been adequately addressed,” the residents said.
The residents argue that documents which were considered by the planning authority, including an EIAR (Environmental Impact Assessment Report), “understate and indeed, in some instances, are quite dismissive of the impacts of the development.”
The EIAR stated that there would be no significant impact from noise during the construction phase or operation of the facility.
“It is difficult to see how that could be so with a development on this scale and intensity of use,” the residents counter.
The residents say that the part of the proposed development called ‘pitch’ 2 is a major issue as it is too close to residential boundaries and that its orientation and what it would entail “displays a lack of appreciation and sensitivity to how it will affect the residents”.
They have suggested that this pitch either be relocated or left as two cross-field pitches and add that a planting scheme will “have no effective screening benefit for at least ten years”.
A curfew time related to floodlights has been suggested by the residents.
Concerns have been raised over a cycle and pedestrian access area with the residents saying that “the reality is that people will drive there and park in the vicinity. . . It will unquestionably create a traffic hazard as it will also lead to an intensification of traffic at the Hazlewood Drive/N56 junction.”
The residents are anxious about noise and dust levels during construction and have questioned the level of rock removal that will be necessary.
They said: “If there is bedrock removal, it could through vibration affect nearby houses. Has a study been undertaken to the extent of the rock involved?”
In initially granting conditional planning permission, Donegal County Council said that pre-planning community engagement “confirmed that residents were most concerned about noise from the sports facilities and floodlighting.”
Concerns were previously raised following consultative meetings held in March and May 2024 while the residents made submissions on the draft master plan.
The residents said: “We believe that any reasonably informed person would conclude that a development on this scale will be significant and will have major impacts on and be injurious to residential amenities and the right of residents to peaceful enjoyment of their homes.”
They have now suggested that if the decision to grant permission is upheld by the planning body that “the design should aim to minimize those impacts”.
The proposed development, on a 42-acre site at Carnamuggagh Lower/Knocknamona would include an 11.2m indoor dome and have facilities for GAA, soccer, athletics, cricket and basketball among others as well as recreational facilities.
An artificial GAA pitch, a sand-based GAA pitch – which will be able to host rugby and soccer – two natural grass soccer pitches, which will house a cricket crease, four synthetic five-a-side soccer pitches and a six-lane athletics sprint track are to feature in the proposed development.
A range of conditions, including speed limit reductions, access arrangements, operating hours, construction hours and public access were laid down by Donegal County Council when the local authority gave the project the green light.
The Letterkenny Regional Sports-Activity Hub has been in the works for several years and in December was allocated €422,739 in funding under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund. This was in addition to a previous funding allocation of over €326,000, bringing the total to €749,000.
Tags: Residents raise concerns major ATU sports complex Letterkenny
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