Planners sound alarm over ambulance base

Attempts by the owners of an unauthorised ambulance personnel training facility in Briarhill to gain planning permission have hit another stumbling block.

Last October, the Irish Ambulance Training Institute (IATI) – which has operated training rooms for the past four years at Unit 2a, Briarhill Business Park – was refused permission to retain the usage in the building.

The application was rejected by planners on the grounds that excessive carparking would seriously injure the amenities of the area, give rise to conditions that would constitute a traffic hazard and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

In January, owners James O’Neill, Marian Turley and Breege Patterson again sought permission to retain the change of use (from Enterprise and Light Industry to training and meeting rooms, offices and a canteen), and submitted a carparking availability survey with the application.

However, planners have pointed out the application fails to indicate the number of spaces which have been allocated to other (vacant) units, which technically may not be available to the IATI.

They added that the required number of spaces for the business was incorrect as the floor area of the building was not calculated correctly.

In the application, the IATI said a carparking survey carried out over three months found there were four groups of parking spaces adjacent to the premises and adjacent premises.

“The IATI training facility has occupied and operated from the subject premises for over four years and, indeed, commercial rates have been paid to the Council during this time.

“In this respect, our client was unaware that a change of use permission was required for the IATI use at the time of occupation.

“The IATI has a full-time staff of four persons at the Briarhill training facility and a normal maximum staff level of six persons. We understand that there are eight parking spaces generally allocated to the premises, which is clearly more than enough for staff needs.

“The survey identified at least 215 parking spaces in the immediate vicinity. The survey indicates that there is a high level of communal parking available close to the subject premises.

“The IATI has also received letters from a number of local businesses confirming that, over the past four years, there have been no issues in relation to the availability of parking spaces. We request that special consideration is given in the current application,” the application reads.

Planners have now requested a site layout plan indicating all of the mentioned parking spaces and clearly mark which are dedicated to other units and the demand generated by each unit, regardless of whether they are occupied.

They also pointed out that the floor area has been incorrectly calculated (areas such as toilets, reception and circulation space have been excluded), and requested a corrected figure – this will increase the parking requirement on the site.

The IATI now has six months to respond with further information or the application will be declared invalid.

The company provides training in pre-hospital emergency care and healthcare fields, from basic first aid through to professional level courses, and works with clients such as ambulance and fire services, coastguard, voluntary organisations, hospitals and adult education centres.

The applicants previously pointed out that the previous use of the unit was as a Yeats College tutorial room – school principal Terry Fahy is landlord. However, the education usage was also unauthorised.