Observation pack · Laois County Council

Dublin Road , Borris Little , Portlaoise

remove the two existing advertising billboards and erect a new digital advertising billboard and all associated and necessary site works at Dublin Road, Borris Little, Portlaoise, Co Laois

Observations close 20 Nov 2026 18 days left

5 weeks from receipt (received 16 Oct 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20 · council decision due 10 Dec 2026

The application

Reference: 2660755 · full record
Authority: Laois County Council
Type: PERMISSION
Status: NEW APPLICATION
Applicant: not published by the national dataset — see the council register
Units: 0
Floor area: —
Site area: 79 m²
Received: 16 Oct 2026
We first saw it: 21 Oct 2026, 02:10
Decision due: 10 Dec 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/2660755/0.
Write your observation.Quote 2660755 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 20 Nov 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
C1.1 Retail warehousing	General Business: To provide for and improve commercial activities	laois county development plan 2021 2027	8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028
R2 Existing residential	Residential 1 - Existing Residential: To protect and enhance the amenity of developed residential communities.	laois county development plan 2021 2027	8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028
C3 High technology	General Business: To provide for and improve commercial activities	laois county development plan 2021 2027 including ministerial direction as varied by variation no 1 no 2 and no 3	8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028
C3 High technology	General Business: To provide for and improve commercial activities	laois county development plan 2021 2027 including ministerial direction as varied by variation no 1 no 2 and no 3	8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028
R2 Existing residential	Residential 1 - Existing Residential: To protect and enhance the amenity of developed residential communities.	laois county development plan 2021 2027 including ministerial direction as varied by variation no 1 no 2 and no 3	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 County Council development plan zoning · fetched 4 Oct 2026, 23:04

Source	Licence	Fetched	Link
Laois County Council development plan zoning	—	4 Oct 2026, 23:04	open

Designations on or near the site

NIAH-recorded building × 3
Rosetta · Annefield House · Ridge Graveyard
Recorded monument × 2
R184846 · R184847

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

Reference	Decision	Decided	Units	Distance	Description
2660601	Refused	21 Oct 2026	0	93 m	replace 1 no. illuminated 12.8m x 3.35m advertising display with 1 no. 6.28m x 3.4m digital advertising display and all associated site works and services
2660005	Conditional	9 Jul 2026	1	67 m	carry out development at Shalom World (formerly known as Rosetta Nursing Home), Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. R32 RV10. Works are to protected structure No.’s RPS 188A & in the curtilage of RPS 188B. The development will consist of 1. Permission for change of use from Nursing Home to part office use and domestic dwelling house, 2. change name on front entrance pier from Rosetta to Shalom World 3. Erect new signage
2560720	Conditional	9 Apr 2026	0	0 m	construct a two storey extension to the rear of existing building to extend dental facilities on the site including minor internal layout alterations and all associated and necessary site works at Dublin Road, Borris Little, Porlaoise, Co Laois R32 H5PW
2660068	Conditional	2 Apr 2026	0	325 m	Change of Use from a single-storey, shop store (previously a launderette facility) to Natural Salt Wellness Rooms. The proposed development is accessed through the existing retail shop at No. 99 Main Street and alleyway between two protected structures Ramsbottom's Pub (no. 101 Main Street- RPS 210) and Marian Carton Optician (No. 100 Main Street -RPS211). Upgrading works include replacement windows, universal access and toilet, bicycle parking and refuse storage. The proposed development is located within an architectural conservation area
2560695	Conditional	1 Apr 2026	1	257 m	demolish exisiting shed and front boundary wall to provide car parking spaces and construct a two storey with single storey element extension to the rear of dwelling house and a porch to the front facade and all associated and necessary site works
2560542	Conditional	27 Jan 2026	0	381 m	develop a new primary care centre located on a vacant site immediately adjoining the Dublin Road and to the East of the existing car park, interlinked to the core public services and administration block of the existing protected structure (NIAH Reg. No. 12508088) St. Fintan’s Hospital building. The proposed development comprises: a) a four-storey Primary Care Centre building (total gross floor area c. 5,845m²) incorporating general practitioner (GP) surgeries, dental and orthodontic surgeries, outpatient consulting and treatment rooms, physiotherapy and occupational therapy rooms, group rooms, (CAMHS and day hospital), X-ray and ultrasound services, administrative offices, ancillary staff and meeting rooms, clinical and utility stores, waiting areas, and all associated circulation and building services; b) provision of site infrastructure including a new car park located to the South-West of the proposed building containing 104 no. surface-level car parking spaces (including 4 no. accessible spaces and 12 no. electric vehicle charging spaces), 80 no. bicycle parking spaces, pedestrian footpaths, cycle paths, boundary treatments, hard and soft landscaping, public lighting, site signage, and all associated site development and drainage works; c) the development includes provision of rooftop plant areas, ESB substation, and vehicular, pedestrian, and cycle access from within the existing St. Fintan’s campus road network and all associated site development works.
2560565	Conditional	29 Oct 2025	0	396 m	carry out development which will consist of internal works comprising the change of use of 236 sq.m from retail to circulation space over three levels (lower ground, mall, and first floor), affecting Units 36, 136, and Anchor 03, to create a new common lobby with lift access to all levels, along with minor reconfiguration of internal floor levels at lower ground. The proposed external works include the creation of a new public entrance at the south-east corner through modifications to existing walls and railings adjacent to the service yard. New boundary walls will screen the yard, with reconfigured ground levels and new surface finishes to facilitate level access from the public footpath. Alterations to the building facade will include the blocking up of an existing door, formation of a new entrance door to the lobby, and adjustment of the existing fire escape door height to accommodate new emergency exit doors
2560564	Conditional	15 Oct 2025	0	396 m	carry out development which will consist of the amalgamation of the two existing upper ground floor retail units (Units 35 & 36), both accessed from within the internal mall, to form a single larger retail unit with a combined floor area of781 sq.m. No external works are proposed to the exterior of the building

Appeals

ACP case	Type	Outcome	Decided	Distance
501203	—	Granted with conditions	7 Aug 2026	257 m
501204	—	Withdrawn	15 May 2026	0 m
500115	—	pending	20 Oct 2025	103 m
322630	—	Granted with conditions	29 Sept 2025	312 m
323606	—	open	9 Sept 2025	275 m
316554	—	Granted with conditions	5 Jul 2024	378 m
315344	—	Granted with conditions	20 Dec 2023	224 m
315339	—	Invalid	13 Dec 2022	224 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

16 Oct 2026 New application · observations close 20 Nov 2026
16 Oct 2026 Decision

Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 21 Oct 2026, 02:10. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Laois County Council before relying on it.