elphin local area plan 2009 - 2015 - Roscommon County Council

Chapter 10: Development Management Guidelines and Standards
• Service areas should be out of sight of surrounding residential and pedestrian areas. Tree planting
and landscaping must form part of the overall design of the centre, plans of which must be
prepared by a fully qualified landscape architect.
10.5 OFFICE / INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS (To be read in conjunction with Chapters
5)
10.5.1 Office Development
The County Council will encourage office development to be located in established centres as well as the
use of vacant or under-utilised upper floors for office development. Outside of the town/village centres,
applications for office development will be considered within an industrial and business park, on
industrially zoned lands or where infrastructure has been provided, in line with the principle of sustainable
development.
10.5.2 Industry, Warehousing and Business Park Developments
Industrial and commercial development is favoured in or adjacent to settlements where infrastructure has
been provided and in line with the principle of sustainable development. These developments on
greenfield sites will be required to satisfy minimum requirements for design regarding location, layout,
finishes, access, tree planting and landscaping, boundary treatment, water supply, drainage, and effluent
disposal. In addition, sufficient space shall be reserved within the curtilage of the site for parking of all
employees’ and visitors’ cars, for the loading and unloading of vehicles, and, adequate rear access to the
business premises is made. Adequately screened on-site storage shall be provided for raw materials, waste
products and finished goods.
Other requirements include a high standard of design, finish, layout, and landscaping. All new
developments shall be designed to provide access for all and shall include parking areas for people with
disabilities at the main entrance, equal access toilets, and, access to floors above ground level. Proposals
for developments that would generate a large volume of HGV traffic should not be located where they
would encourage movement of such traffic through residential areas. Areas between the building and the
road boundary may include car parking spaces, provided an acceptable landscaping scheme is
incorporated. Industrial/warehousing/business park developments should present a pleasant aspect helped
by tree planting, the careful design of signage, screening of storage space and unobtrusive loading and
parking spaces. Various unit sizes shall be provided to cater for the differing needs of potential occupants.
The Planning Authority will require details of the nature of the proposed activities and of the means of
controlling effluents, noise, light, solid waste and gaseous emissions from these activities, together with
ameliorative measures as part of a planning application. In assessing an application for development, the
Planning Authority will weigh the development against its impact on the environment.
10.6 CONVENIENCE FOOD SHOPPING (To be read in conjunction with Chapter 5)
Where practicable, new convenience retail development should be located within a town centre or within a
designated neighbourhood or district centre serving a large residential community. Accessibility is the key
to the success of such developments and such proposals should be accessible by all modes of transport
particularly pedestrians and public transport. As large convenience shops attract customers carrying out
large weekly shopping, it is important that such development should also be served by adequate car
parking. Out of centre sites for this type of retail development require careful assessment, subject to the
sequential test assessment and their potential impact on nearby centres. The maximum size of
supermarkets is 3,000 square metres net sales, as defined in the Retail Planning Guidelines.
Elphin Local Area Plan 2009-2015 Page 130