Observation pack · Laois County Council

Main Street , Stradbally , Co. Laois.

Renovate the existing building (derelict), change of use from domestic dwelling to 3 self-contained Apartments. Re-instate shop front, The former ground floor retail unit revamped / renovated to form a new shop / retail unit. Demolish previously built extension to the rear to facility works. Necessary renovations to same house. Update / new connections to water and sewage mains, all associated site works

Observations close 15 Dec 2026 30 days left

5 weeks from receipt (received 10 Nov 2026) · s.34 Planning and Development Act 2000 · art. 29 Regulations 2001 · fee €20 · council decision due 13 Jan 2027

The application

Reference: 2660803 · full record
Authority: Laois County Council
Type: PERMISSION
Status: PRE_VALIDATION
Site area: 544 m²
Received: 10 Nov 2026
Decision due: 13 Jan 2027

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/2660803/0.
Write your observation.Quote 2660803 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 15 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
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
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

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 × 8
Cosby National School · Saint Patrick's Church (Stradbally) · Saint Mary's National School

Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years

Decisions

Reference	Decision	Decided	Units	Distance	Description
2560686	Conditional	13 Jul 2026	1	384 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		57 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		476 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	367 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	159 m	Construct new rear extension to existing dwelling
2460478	Conditional	13 Dec 2024	2	198 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		20 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	460 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	121 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

10 Nov 2026 New application · observations close 15 Dec 2026
10 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.