Observation pack · Laois County Council
Main Street , Stradbally , County Laois
Carry out works to a protected structure Reg Nr: RPS 746 – Presentation Convent, Reg Nr: RPS 234 – Presentation Convent Chapel, NIAH listing Reg Nr: 12900427 – Presentation Convent, Reg Nr: 12900426 – Presentation Convent Chapel. Phase 2: development of 9 Nr. apartments. 3 storey block with 3 Nr. 2 bed apartments per floor to the rear of the site and being an independent structure to the existing Convent and Church building. Approved entrance/ egress, site acess, utilities to previously approved associated siteworks to be used with an amendment to the car parking layout to provide for additonal spaces to cater for the additional units
Observations close 14 Dec 2026 30 days left
5 weeks from receipt (received 9 Nov 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20
The application
- Reference
- 2660798 · full record
- Authority
- Laois County Council
- Type
- PERMISSION
- Status
- INCOMPLETED APPLICATION
- Site area
- 2,384 m²
- Received
- 9 Nov 2026
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/2660798/0.
- Write your observation.Quote
2660798at 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 14 Dec 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| G4 Open space | Open Space and Amenity: To preserve, provide for and improve active and passive recreational public and private open space. | laois county development plan 2021 2027 | 8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028 |
| M2 Major town centre | Town Centre: To protect and enhance the special physical and social character of the existing town centre and to provide for and improve retailing and commercial activities. | laois county development plan 2021 2027 | 8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028 |
| S5 Sustainable neighbourhood infrastructure | Community Educational and Institutional: To protect and provide for local neighbourhood, community, ecclesiastical, recreational and educational facilities. | laois county development plan 2021 2027 | 8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028 |
| S5 Sustainable neighbourhood infrastructure | Community Educational and Institutional: To protect and provide for local neighbourhood, community, ecclesiastical, recreational and educational facilities. | laois county development plan 2021 2027 | 8 Mar 2022 → 7 Mar 2028 |
| G4 Open space | Open Space/Amenity: To preserve, provide for and improve active and passive recreational public and private open space. | 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 |
| M2 Major town centre | Town Centre: To protect and enhance the special physical and social character of the existing town centre and to provide for and improve retailing and 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 |
| S5 Sustainable neighbourhood infrastructure | Community-Educational-Institutional: To protect and provide for local neighbourhood, community, ecclesiastical, recreational and educational facilities. | 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 |
| S5 Sustainable neighbourhood infrastructure | Community-Educational-Institutional: To protect and provide for local neighbourhood, community, ecclesiastical, recreational and educational facilities. | 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 within 100 m
- NIAH-recorded building × 10The Maltings · Saint Patrick's Church (Stradbally) · Saint Mary's National School
- Recorded monument × 5Religious house - Franciscan friars · Castle - unclassified · Bawn
Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years
Decisions
| Reference | Decision | Decided | Units | Distance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2560686 | Conditional | 13 Jul 2026 | 1 | 295 m | construct a dwelling house, connection to public water main, connection to public foul sewer, new splayed entrance and associated site work. |
| 2560285 | Conditional | 15 Apr 2026 | 0 m | carry out works to a protected structure Reg Nr: RPS 746 – Presentation Convent, Reg Nr: RPS 234 – Presentation Convent Chapel, NIAH listing Reg Nr: 12900427 – Presentation Convent, Reg Nr: 12900426 – Presentation Convent Chapel. Demolition of a 2 storey structure and single storey structures to the rear. Renovation and upgrade works to the existing convent building to include for sub-division to provide for 18Nr. residential units namely: 4 Nr. 1 Bed apartments and 1 Nr. 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor (existing), 3 Nr. 1 Bed apartments on the 1st floor (existing), 2 Nr. 1 Bed apartments (existing) and 2 Nr. 2 Bedroom apartments (Church) on the 1st floor (+1), 3 Nr. 1 Bed apartments on the 2nd floor (existing), 2 Nr. 1 Bed apartments on the ground floor - new build 1 Nr. 1 Bed apartments on the 1st floor - new build, , and all external groundworks and associated siteworks. A Natura Impact Statement (NIS) has been prepared in respect of the proposed development. | |
| 2560876 | Conditional | 19 Feb 2026 | 364 m | Change of use from Beauty Salon (approved under previous Pl. Ref. 19/437) to 1 no. 3 Bed Apartment, to include internal alterations, changes to external elevations and all associated site works | |
| 2560837 | Conditional | 10 Feb 2026 | 1 | 384 m | Alter dwelling as constructed. Retention of attic conversion as constructed. Retention permission to retain domestic shed as constructed and associated site works |
| 2560021 | Conditional | 7 Mar 2025 | 1 | 234 m | Construct new rear extension to existing dwelling |
| 2460478 | Conditional | 13 Dec 2024 | 2 | 266 m | (a) demolish existing workshop, office and shed to leave original outbuilding walls, (b) demolish existing single storey extension to rear of existing dwelling house, (c) construct new single storey extension to rear and side of existing dwelling house, (d) renovate and extend existing outbuilding to form new townhouse, (e) sub-divide existing site and all associated site works |
| 2460219 | Conditional | 14 Jun 2024 | 35 m | Change use of the first floor of St. Mary's Old School (RPS 238) to a pre-school Montessori and associated site work | |
| 2460169 | Conditional | 16 May 2024 | 1 | 355 m | construct an extension to the front and rear elevations of Dwelling house, necessary alterations to same dwelling and associated site works |
Appeals
| ACP case | Type | Outcome | Decided | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 313867 | Granted with conditions | 27 Jun 2023 | 5 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
- 9 Nov 2026 New application · observations close 14 Dec 2026
- 9 Nov 2026 Decision
Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 11 Nov 2026, 23:00. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Laois County Council before relying on it.