Plans to build over 260 houses and apartments on outskirts of Meath commuter town given green light

Kildare based Marina Quarter Limited have been approved to proceed with the large-scale development in Bennetstown which is located close to the M3 Parkway park and ride and rail station beside Dunboyne.

They include plans to construct 267 residential units, consisting of 145 houses and 122 apartments.

The houses are expected to span across two to three storeys with the apartments that will consist of one, two, three and four bedroom units being spread across eight blocks.

Marina Quarter have similarly included plans to incorporate a single storey creche while also carrying out a range of infrastructural modifications and additions to sustain the scale of the proposed development.

Among them include modifications to the R157 regional road encompassing changes to the existing carriageway and traffic lanes as well as replacing an existing roundabout with a new signalised junction.

The plans likewise provide for footpaths, cycle lanes and two pedestrian crossings on the existing M3 Parkway access road.

When complete, entry to the development is expected to come courtesy of two new vehicular access points along the new link road between the R157 and the Old Navan Road.

Pedestrian access is also anticipated to be provided on to the existing M3 Parkway access road.

Despite those plans, a number of objections over the prospective development were lodged with council bosses from local residents.

They chiefly surrounded fears over flood risks to existing properties in the area, infrastructural and pedestrian connectivity as well as environmental and future development anxieties.

Meath County Council, however, in its decision yesterday (Wednesday) approved the plans subject to 29 conditions.