Board is to decide on Limerick nursing home project

AN BORD Pleanala will adjudicate on plans for a 130-bed nursing home on the edge of Limerick city.

It comes following a series of objections to the proposals for the elder care facility on land off the R526 which links Raheen to Patrickswell.

Loughmore Healthcare 2 is seeking to construct the two-storey structure providing 130 bed spaces across 128 bedrooms with dining rooms, communal areas, a production kitchen and first-floor terrace.

Limerick City and County Council gave the development the go-ahead, but four people have now written to the national planning appeals body asking them to step in.

One objector wrote in their appeal to An Bord Pleanala: “A 130-person unit with 128 bedrooms is by any standard a very large unit, with most nursing home operators now declining to build any facilities with accommodation for more than 60 to 70 persons.

To accommodate 130 persons in a nursing home on a restricted site of 1.1 hectares is clearly overdevelopment and needs to be substantially pared back.”

They also expressed concerns over the number of car parking spaces associated with the development.

"An entire provision of 32 spaces to include for staff and visitors, with no possibility of overspill onto the main road is a recipe for the creation of severe visitor parking difficulties.”

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In its own documents presented to Limerick’s planning section, the developer wrote: “The established need associated with the drive for compact growth and making the most efficient use of urban land has driven the development design concept whilst also ensuring a quality living environment.”

There were also objections to the project from a number of neighbouring landowners.

A decision is due by July 23, 2024.