Observation pack · Laois County Council

Harpur's Lane , Portlaoise , Co. Laois

construct (i) 8 no. house units, comprised of: 4 no. 3-bed 2-storey end-terrace houses and 4 no. 2-bed 2-storey mid-terrace houses; (ii) 2 No. 3-storey apartment blocks comprising of 24 no. 2-bed own-door apartment units and 12 no. 1-bed own-door apartment units; (iii) continuation of existing access route from the adjoining residential development (namely Harpurs Crescent); (iv) 1 no. new pedestrian access point from the Knockmay Road and 1 no. new pedestrian access point from Harpurs Lane; (v) new foul sewer, storm water drainage, and water mains connection to existing public services; (vi) landscaping and boundary treatments; (vii) car parking and bicycle parking; (viii) public lighting; and (ix) all other associated site works.

Observations close 19 Oct 2026 20 days left

5 weeks from receipt (received 14 Sept 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20 · council decision due 8 Nov 2026

The application

Reference: 2660644 · full record
Authority: Laois County Council
Type: PERMISSION
Status: NEW APPLICATION
Applicant: not published by the national dataset — see the council register
Units: 1
Floor area: 3,103 m²
Site area: 5,926 m²
Received: 14 Sept 2026
We first saw it: 22 Sept 2026, 16:10
Decision due: 8 Nov 2026
Decision: N/a

The national dataset truncates descriptions (80 characters for DLR, 70 for Fingal) and omits the applicant. The full description and the drawings are on the council register linked in step 1.

How to submit an observation

Read the file on the council register.Drawings, planning statement and site notices are at http://www.eplanning.ie/LaoisCC/AppFileRefDetails/2660644/0.
Write your observation.Quote 2660644 at the top, give your name and the address the authority should reply to, and confine it to planning matters — zoning objective, height, overlooking, traffic, drainage, heritage. What you say here is what you can later appeal on.
Pay the €20 fee.Every submission needs it; without it the observation is invalid and is returned. Laois County Council takes it online with the submission or at the counter.
Submit before 19 Oct 2026.Online through the register above, or in writing to the Planning Department, Laois County Council. The test is the date the authority receives it, not the date you post it.
Keep the acknowledgement.The council's receipt is your proof of a valid observation — see below.

Statutory basis. Section 34(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) requires a planning authority to consider any submission or observation made to it in accordance with the Regulations. Article 29 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (as amended) sets the window: a submission or observation must be received by the authority within five weeks beginning on the date of receipt of the application, and must be accompanied by the prescribed fee of €20. A submission received after the window, or without the fee, is invalid and the authority must return it.

After you submit: keep the acknowledgement. Under the 2024 Act it secures your right to appeal — only the applicant and a person who made a valid observation may bring the council's decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála, within four weeks of the decision. Making a valid observation is also what buys a right of appeal: under s.37(1) of the 2000 Act, only the applicant and a person who made a valid submission or observation to the planning authority may appeal the decision to An Coimisiún Pleanála (within four weeks of the decision). Missing the five-week window closes both doors.

What the site is zoned

Code	Objective	Plan	In force
S5 Sustainable neighbourhood infrastructure	Community Educational and Institutional: To protect and provide for local neighbourhood, community, ecclesiastical, recreational and educational facilities.	LS-002:DP:laois-county-development-plan-2021-2027	8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028

An application that accords with the zoning objective is hard to resist on principle; one that does not may be a material contravention, which the council can only grant by the s.34(6) procedure with its own notice and window.

Source: LAOIS LS-002:DP:laois-county-development-plan-2021-2027 · fetched 27 Sept 2026, 19:37

Source	Licence	Fetched	Link
LAOIS LS-002:DP:laois-county-development-plan-2021-2027	—	27 Sept 2026, 19:37	open

Designations on or near the site

Nothing designated within 100 m of the site.

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

Reference	Decision	Decided	Units	Distance	Description
2625	Conditional	3 Jun 2026	0	292 m	convert the existing garage to a gym/exercise area and to alter the front elevation of the garage by removing the double garage doors and installing glazed doors and windows
2560898	Conditional	25 May 2026	0	472 m	Amend the as-built single storey childcare facility (in accordance with Planning Ref No; 16/527) to add an additional first floor level, (area=141m2) to accommodate a maximum of 56 children, with opening hours of 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
2660008	Conditional	22 May 2026	76	297 m	carry out development which will consist of: A proposed residential and commercial development on a brownfield site of 4.96 hectares to include the construction of 217 no. single to four storey residential units; 2 No. mixed use three storey commercial buildings to accommodate a creche, ground floor retail units, restaurant, and office space; a new roads layout with two new vehicular entrances off Harpur’s Lane and Mountrath Road; a dedicated pedestrian and cycle link traversing the site between the two road entrances; a DMURS compliant raised platform junction at the vehicular entrance onto Harpur’s Lane and a courtesy type pedestrian crossing further to the west on Harpur’s Lane; an additional service exit onto Mountrath Road adjacent to the proposed mixed use commercial building; associated footpaths, traffic calming, carparking, street lighting, paving, landscaping with integrated children’s playground, drainage, bin storage, and bicycle storage throughout the development; free standing ESB substations; a connection to the existing public services; and all associated ancillary site development works.The proposed development will involve the demolition of: 3 no. former fuel islands; 1 no. former fuel offloading area; the removal of underground fuel tanks and associate underground pipework; and the foundations of the former shopping centre. The proposed 217 no. residential units to consist of 74 houses and 141 apartments (including duplexes) along with 2 no. assisted living units as follows: (a) 9 no. semi-detached 2 storey 4 bed townhouses; (b) 37 no. semi-detached and terraced 2 and 3 storey 3 bed townhouses; (c) 18 no. semi-detached and terraced 2 storey 2 bed townhouses; (d) 10 no. detached and semi-detached 2 bed single storey lifetime homes; (e) 2 no. detached single storey 5 bed assisted living units with in house carer accommodation; and (f) 29 no. 1 bed, 61 no. 2 bed, and 51 no. 3 bed own door apartments and duplex apartments in three and four storey blocks. The proposed 2 no. mixed use 3 storey commercial buildings to consist of: (1) a 416.6sq.m creche over two floors to accommodate 61 children and support staff with dedicated playground with separate 359.8sq.m office space and ancillary accommodation to first and second floors with separate entrance at ground level; and (2) a separate 2,208.9sq.m 3 storey commercial building with public plaza facing onto Mountrath Street consisting of 511.5sq.m of ground floor retail space, a 311.5sq.m res
2560212	Conditional	10 Dec 2025	0	478 m	carry out development which will consist of permission to extend and renovate St. Michael’s and St. Helena’s apartment blocks. The amendments will include removal of roof on both blocks, additional storey with flat roof, amendments to elevations, amendments to internal layouts to provide 12 no. x 1-bed apartments, new bin and bike store and all associated site works. Note both blocks contain a mixture of 10 no. x 1 & 2 bed apartments. (These works are in the vicinity of RPS No. 462.)
2560380	Conditional	15 Aug 2025	2	344 m	retain planning permission for the following 1. living room to rear of original dwelling, 2. change of use of original garage area within original dwelling to habitable space and alteration to front elevation and all associated ancillary site works at 4 Oaklawan, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
2560372	Conditional	13 Aug 2025	1	446 m	retain extension to rear of existing dwelling house and associated site works
2460480	Refused	9 Jul 2025	7	396 m	construct 7 no. houses and all associated site works
2560231	Conditional	13 Jun 2025	1	469 m	Renovate and extend to existing cottage requiring demolition of existing rear extension and front porch as well as some outbuildings, and permission to construct new shed to rear and all associated works

Appeals

ACP case	Type	Outcome	Decided	Distance
324341	—	Withdrawn	18 Aug 2026	297 m

If neighbours here have appealed before and lost, the inspector's report on that case is the single most useful thing to read.

What has happened on this file

14 Sept 2026 New application · observations close 19 Oct 2026
14 Sept 2026 Decision

Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 22 Sept 2026, 16:10. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Laois County Council before relying on it.