New plans for a petrol station at the site of the Creeslough tragedy have been deemed not acceptable by Donegal County Council planners, Donegal Daily has learned.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has also raised a number of issues with the proposed rebuilding of the Creeslough service station.
Plans were submitted in April by Vivo Shell Ltd seeking to rebuild a filling station and shop at the location where ten people lost their lives at the Applegreen shopping and apartment complex in October 2022.
The planning application was delayed pending further information. A revised site layout and a road safety audit were submitted in September.
A new report by TII, seen by Donegal Daily, states the proposed development, if approved, “would adversely affect the operation and safety of the national road network”.
TII said that the revised layout doesn’t appear to address a number of road safety issues raised with the proposed development.
“The Authority is of the opinion that insufficient data has been submitted with the planning application to demonstrate that the proposed development will not have a detrimental impact on the capacity, safety or operational efficiency of the national road network in the vicinity of the site,” the report said.
In a separate document, planners of Donegal County Council said the proposed amendments are “not acceptable”.
The planning authority requires that the post office is relocated to the N56 roadside frontage and that the store is relocated to the western side of the proposed building.
The Vivo Shell Ltd planning notice at the entrance to the Creeslough explosion site
Issues were also highlighted regarding proposed disabled parking arrangements, which the planner said would result in drivers having to reverse against the proposed one-way system within the forecourt.
The proposed loading area located along the frontage was deemed “not acceptable” and results in an obstructive obstacle for pedestrian, vehicle and cyclist users, using the public road area to the front of the site along the N56.
The planning authority also said the scope of the road safety audit was too narrow to consider the road safety impacts on the adjoining public road infrastructure and adjacent properties. The developer was instructed to revise the audit.
Vivo Shell has been given until December 12, 2024 to supply the remaining items in the further information request.
The second anniversary of the Creeslough tragedy was marked on Monday 7th October with several remembrance ceremonies. Families affected by the disaster gathered at the site at 3.17pm to mark the exact time that the explosion ripped through the building.
Ten candles were placed at the site remembering Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe, Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, James O’Flaherty, Martina Martin, Hugh Kelly, and 14-year-old Leona Harper.
Memorial outside the site of the Creeslough explosion. Photo: Donegal Daily
Vivo Shell Ltd, in its application, has expressed hope that their aim to respect the wishes of those affected by the tragedy is evident.
The plans include a memorial area of ten lighted poles at the roadside, commemorating the lives lost in the explosion, those injured and the public affected by the tragedy.
However, several public submissions received by the planning authority say that seeing a shop on the site would add to the heartache of grieving families. Others called for a memorial garden to be built on the site, rather than it being ‘business as usual’.
