An Bord Pleanala granted planning permission for the €5.5million redevelopment of Colbert Station last week, after it was originally refused by Limerick City Council.

However, at an oral hearing in City Hall last October city planning officers did not voice as much opposition to the designs as originally expressed.

An Bord Pleanala have now overturned their ruling, while outlining a number of conditions before the development can proceed.

Overall, the board found that the plan would benefit the city, in spite of concerns in relation to the impact of works on Colbert Station, a protected structure.

It stated the development "would represent an enhanced transport hub which would be highly desirable in terms of expanding public transport facilities in Limerick city and surrounding areas".

The board also found that it would not adversely affect the proposals for an orbital route along Parnell Street – which was initially the case put forward by refusal by Limerick City Council.

The application by Bus Eireann to rejuvenate the station was partly in response to the Department of Transport's sectoral plan 2006.

And is understood that Bus Eireann may be reliant on the Department of Transport for a portion of the cost of the development, which could determine when construction could begin.

The plans will see a new bus station built at the current car parking area to the side of the existing station building. New car parking facilities will be developed where the bus bays are currently.

A landscape garden is planned for the carpark at the front of the station. An internal walkway will also connect the rail and bus station, providing greater ease of access for passengers.

Built in 1849 and designed by Sancton Wood, also architect of Heuston Station, the station was renamed after Con Colbert, the Limerick man executed following the 1916 Rising.

But the station was not originally intended to be located on Parnell Street. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage notes that "aristocratic and middle class interests prevented it from being constructed in the more fashionable parts of the city and it was thus built at the edge of the Victorian part of the Limerick city".