Conor McGregor has been refused planning permission to construct a six-bedroomed house, complete with a cinema, bar and two swimming pools in Co Kildare
In the application, Mr McGregor was planning to demolish his existing five bedroom home at The Paddocks, Castledillon, Straffan and replace it with a 2,290 sq.m six bedroomed 'family home'.
The plan also included a 746.6 sq.m fully sunken basement, independent of the proposed home, to include car-parking, a bar and a games area.
In its refusal decision, An Coimisiún Pleanála concluded that the proposed development "would appear visually incongruous in this sensitive landscape area, would seriously injure the visual and rural amenities of the area, and would set a precedent for out-of-scale replacement dwellings in the rural area".
In the decision, it also concluded that proposed demolition of a large detached rural dwelling, and its replacement with a substantially larger structure, would be contrary to Kildare County Council's Rural House Design Guide which promotes the re-use, adaptation or extension of rural structures.
An Coimisiún Pleanála's refusal upholds a refusal issued by Kildare County Council in January and the case was before An Coimisiún Pleanála on appeal from Mr McGregor.
The planning commission has issued its refusal despite its own inspector in the case, Robert Speer, recommending a grant of permission.
It is only one in every ten cases where the planning commission dismisses a grant or refusal recommendation of its own inspector to issue a contrary ruling.
As part of a 52-page report, Mr Speer found that the proposed development would be acceptable, would be justified in terms of demolition and replacement and acceptable in terms of siting, design and wastewater treatment, would not seriously injure the visual amenities of the area or the amenities of property in the vicinity, and would constitute an appropriate development in this rural location.
Mr Speer observed that the planned home is 1km from the K Club golf resort where there are multiple examples of houses of a substantial scale having been developed.
Mr Speer said that the site itself is heavily screened from view with mature boundaries defining the full extent of the site perimeter.
Mr Speer stated that having conducted a site inspection, "while I would concede that the proposed replacement dwelling is of an imposing design and is clearly intended to elicit an element of grandeur (in an attempt to mimic that of historic stately homes/estate houses), it is my opinion that the overall size and scale of the proposal is not in itself incompatible with the site location and context".
As part of the commission’s order, it considered that the design of the proposed development did not have sufficient regard to the 'Special’ sensitivity landscape context of the site.
It further considered that "the proposed development would be out of scale and character with adjacent residential properties in this rural area and that the applicant failed to adequately justify the complete demolition of a substantial detached residential property and its replacement with a significantly larger structure as opposed to the sensitive adaptation or extension of the existing dwelling in accordance with the policy of the planning authority".
McGregor paid out €3m for The Paddocks in 2019 and planning documentation shows that his staff were to be housed in a nearby home at No 5 Castledillon "which is now also in the full ownership of the applicant".
Records with the Residential Property Price Register show that No 5 Castledillon was purchased for €1.65m in June 2022.
McGregor previously secured planning permission to partly demolish and extend and renovate The Paddocks.
However, Tyler Owens Architects told the council that having started the process of demolition back in 2022, it became apparent that the existing quality of construction of the remainder of the house, along with the client’s changing needs, indicated that the works would not make sense.
