Solas Obseravtory , Athdown , Blessington
- 3 Aug 2023Received
- 7 Sept 2023Observations closed
- Status
- Withdrawn or invalid
- Decision
- Not yet
- Council
- Wicklow County Council
- Type
- PERMISSION
- Site
- 1.03 ha
What’s proposed
Changing the use of the utility building to a single rural dwelling.This involves changing the use of the PC/computer room and the Office into two bedrooms. The Utility room that already has kitchen facilities would become the kitchen and living room. No other changes are needed or works needed.The Office and Computer / PC room were needed before the connection of the observatory to the national broadband fibre network. Now their functions can be carried out remotely. Albeit it needs somebody on-site to physically turn on the telescope and to turn the dome in the observatory. It is hoped that these will become automated in time.The change of use is required because there is an existential risk to the development. There have been multiple security incidents, breaks-ins and trespass on-site, all were reported to the Gardai. They recommended security cameras be installed, but these were subsequently vandalised.It is considered that the site is now known to problematic individuals and that the only solution to the current perils is to have somebody living on site. A change of use might be considered urgent.The development is uninsured due to the unreasonable cost of insurance. If there was somebody living on site, insurance would be available at a reasonable cost. The change of use is also to broaden the usage of the observatory. Having somebody on-site would greatly increase the use of the observatory and it would facilitate broadening its usage to education and community outreach. In particular, the plan would be to have astronomy nights for parents and children in the local school, eventually expanding to other schools in Wicklow and further afield. Further details are given on Form B in the attachments
2360197 is a planning application to Wicklow County Council for changing the use of the utility building to a single rural dwelling.This involves, received on 3 Aug 2023; the file is recorded as incompleted application.
Planning details
- Reference
- 2360197
- Local authority
- Wicklow County Council
- Status
- Withdrawn or invalid · register status “INCOMPLETED APPLICATION”
- Received
- 3 Aug 2023
- Observations close
- 7 Sept 2023 (closed 1103 days ago)
- Decision due
- No due date published
- Decision
- Not decided
- Proposed development
- Changing the use of the utility building to a single rural dwelling.This involves changing the use of the PC/computer room and the Office into two bedrooms. The Utility room that already has kitchen facilities would become the kitchen and living room. No other changes are needed or works needed.The Office and Computer / PC room were needed before the connection of the observatory to the national broadband fibre network. Now their functions can be carried out remotely. Albeit it needs somebody on-site to physically turn on the telescope and to turn the dome in the observatory. It is hoped that these will become automated in time.The change of use is required because there is an existential risk to the development. There have been multiple security incidents, breaks-ins and trespass on-site, all were reported to the Gardai. They recommended security cameras be installed, but these were subsequently vandalised.It is considered that the site is now known to problematic individuals and that the only solution to the current perils is to have somebody living on site. A change of use might be considered urgent.The development is uninsured due to the unreasonable cost of insurance. If there was somebody living on site, insurance would be available at a reasonable cost. The change of use is also to broaden the usage of the observatory. Having somebody on-site would greatly increase the use of the observatory and it would facilitate broadening its usage to education and community outreach. In particular, the plan would be to have astronomy nights for parents and children in the local school, eventually expanding to other schools in Wicklow and further afield. Further details are given on Form B in the attachmentsAs published by the register.
- Site area
- 1.03 ha from the mapped boundary, not the council's figure
- Applicant
- Not published — the national feed carries no applicant name council register
Full planning report for 53.16780, -6.40412
Zoning, appeals, sold prices, flood and heritage constraints — everything for this area in one PDF.
No account, no payment. Not a statutory planning search.
Appeal
Not appealed.
Commencement
No commencement notice matched to this reference.
Zoning at the site
No zoning objective covers this site in the current plan.
Designations within 250 m
No OPW flood extent nearby.
- Radon risk area · 3
- Recorded monument · 1
Provenance
Register row from the national planning applications feed (NPAD), fetched 11 Sept 2026, 18:51 (store id 161332). Deadlines were computed by the store from the received / decided dates under the Planning and Development Act 2000 and are recorded as events, not recomputed here. Council register: http://www.eplanning.ie/WicklowCC/AppFileRefDetails/2360197/0.
Source: npad · fetched 11 Sept 2026, 18:51
| Source | Licence | Fetched | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| npad | CC-BY-4.0 | 11 Sept 2026, 18:51 | open |