Avoca River Park , Arklow , Co. Wicklow
the development comprises amendments to the permitted Energy Centre under WCC Reg. Ref.: 21/1080, as amended by WCC Reg. Ref.: 23/843, which arose during detailed design stage including the following: • the omission of 4 no. black start generators and transformers, on-site water treatment plant, storage facilities, 2 no. storey MV/ LV switch room, fuel unloading stations within a compound and security hut, • minor amendments and reconfiguration of the permitted gas turbines and the provision of 1 no. emergency generator,• relocation of the package water treatment plant and infiltration area to the east of the site, • the provision of an alternate single-storey MV substation/ switchgear building with a gross floor area (GFA) of c. 103 sq.m, • the provision of a two-storey electrical technical room comprising LV equipment, control room and welfare area with a GFA of c. 269 sq.m, • the provision of an air compressor building within a containerised unit and an overflow pump system room with a GFA of c. 23 sq.m, • the provision of 2 no. fuel tanks with a total height of c. 12m within a bunded area,• the provision of 2 no. firewater tanks with an overall height of c. 9.8m,• the provision of fuel forwarding equipment within a compound of c. 242 sq.m, • the addition of EV parking infrastructure to 2 no. existing car parking bays located to the northeast of the site, • associated amendments to the permitted internal road layout, site access to include for a controlled access gate, landscaping layout, boundary treatments and all other associated and ancillary works, An EPA-Industrial Emissions Directive (IE) licence is required to facilitate the operation of the development
The application
- Reference
- 2660929 · full record
- Authority
- Wicklow County Council
- Type
- PERMISSION
- Status
- NEW APPLICATION
- Applicant
- not published by the national dataset — see the council register
- Units
- 0
- Floor area
- —
- Site area
- 1.28 ha
- Received
- 15 Oct 2026
- We first saw it
- 28 Oct 2026, 01:34
- Decision due
- 9 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/WicklowCC/AppFileRefDetails/2660929/0.
- Write your observation.Quote
2660929at 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. Wicklow County Council takes it online with the submission or at the counter.
- Submit before 19 Nov 2026.Online through the register above, or in writing to the Planning Department, Wicklow 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.
What the site is zoned
| Code | Objective | Plan | In force |
|---|---|---|---|
| C2.1 Economic development and employment | Employment: To provide for the development of enterprise and employment | arklow and environs local area plan | 4 Mar 2018 → 23 Oct 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: Wicklow County Council development plan zoning · fetched 27 Sept 2026, 19:37
| Source | Licence | Fetched | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wicklow County Council development plan zoning | — | 27 Sept 2026, 19:37 | open |
Designations on or near the site
- Radon risk area × 1About 1 in 10 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels
Nearby precedents within 500 m, last 5 years
Decisions
| Reference | Decision | Decided | Units | Distance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2660038 | Conditional | 13 Aug 2026 | 0 | 0 m | the following works to connect Avoca River Park to public services: • an underground foul pump station and an above ground kiosk with a total height of 1.8m within a secure compound located on lands at Avoca River Park; • a watermain with a total length of c. 2.2km and a foul rising main with a total length of c. 2.2km from the proposed pump station, traversing lands within Avoca River Park, the existing trackway through the marsh, 10 and 11 Ferrybank and terminating in the public road (R772); • installation of fibre connections with a total length of c. 2.2km with fibre ducts; • connection to the existing Uisce Éireann foul network and watermain network; • all associated site development works above and below ground |
| 2560594 | Conditional | 24 Apr 2026 | 0 | 364 m | • 1 no. ICT facility building with a gross floor area (GFA) of c. 36,655 sq.m and a total parapet height of c.19.5m. • 2 no. ICT facilities each with a GFA of c. 4,428 sq.m and a total parapet height of c. 10.5m. • Each of the ICT facilities will accommodate ICT equipment rooms, external mechanical equipment areas, electrical equipment rooms, network rooms, ancillary office space, storage and loading bays; • The construction of a solar farm development consisting of photovoltaic (PV) panel arrays covering an area of approximately c. 2.7 ha in the east of the site, on ground mounted steel frames, underground cabling and ducting, a new gated internal track for maintenance and all associated site services works; • Relocation of the customer transformer compound permitted under WCC Reg. Ref.: 21/1080 as amended by WCC Reg. Ref.: 23/843; • The provision of process water and domestic water split tanks, process water and domestic water plantrooms, rainwater harvesting tanks, chlorine dosing kiosk, sprinkler pump rooms, sprinkler tanks, fire hydrant pump room and hydrant tank; • The provision of an internal road network and circulation areas, footpaths, 104 no. car parking spaces and 100 no. cycle parking spaces; • The construction site access arrangements and amendments to the internal road network permitted under WCC Reg. Ref.: 21/1080 as amended by WCC Reg. Ref.: 23/843; • Landscaping and planting, boundary treatments, site lighting, security fencing, all associated site works including underground foul and storm water drainage network, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) measures, and utility cables, and all ancillary works. The operation of the proposed development will require an EPA Industrial Emissions Directive (IE) Licence. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) has been prepared |
| 2560806 | Conditional | 27 Nov 2025 | 0 | 0 m | The proposed development seeks permission to amend the development permitted under WCC Reg. Ref.: 23/72 and will consist of the following: • Reconfiguration of the internal layout of the 3-no. permitted ICT facility buildings to include ICT equipment rooms, mechanical rooms, switch rooms, electrical equipment rooms, office accommodation, storage and staff facilities at ground and first floor levels; • Amendments to the southern façade on all ICT facility buildings to include alterations to fenestration, extension of permitted louvered façade treatment, and associated alterations; • An increase of c.113 sq.m to the permitted external generator compound of each ICT facility building at ground floor to accommodate additional plant and equipment; • Amendments to plant and equipment layout at roof level and the provision of 1 no. additional roof-mounted emergency landlord generator on each ICT facility building; • Amendments to the permitted water services compound to provide for 1 no. sprinkler tank, 1 no. hydrant tank, 2 no. hydrant water tanks, 2 no. water storage tanks, 6 no. single storey pump rooms (with a gross floor area (GFA) of c. 52 sq.m each) and 1 no. single storey pump room of with a GFA of c. 46 sq.m; • Revisions to permitted site access arrangements including the omission of a permitted security hut and the provision of a revised sally port entrance system with a single storey gatehouse (c. 43 sq.m) and associated revised internal road network; • Relocation of permitted car parking spaces and the provision of 26 no. additional car parking spaces (149 no. spaces in total), Electric Vehicle (EV) car parking and ducting; • The proposed development also includes alterations to the permitted landscaping and planting, fuel filling areas, boundary treatments, security fencing, lighting, SuDS and drainage, and all associated and ancillary site development works. The operation of the development will require an EPA Industrial Emissions Directive (IE) Licence. |
| 2560752 | Conditional | 12 Nov 2025 | 0 | 405 m | detached storage shed no. 1 (388.50m2), detached tool / battery shed no. 2 (38.9m2), 2 no. sprinkler tanks and pump house (13.95m2) located north of building no. 1. Retention sought for detached storage shed no. 3 (224.60m2) located north of building no. 2 and all associated works |
| 2560689 | Conditional | 24 Oct 2025 | 0 | 406 m | single storey extension to building no. 1 (728 m2) and 2 no. battery storage kiosks and 2 no. invertors to northern façade of building no. 1, removal of ground mounted solar panels and construction of detached single storey building (120m2) to the south of building no. 1. single storey extension to building no. 2 of (152 m2) and all associated site development works |
| 23843 | Conditional | 28 Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 m | proposed development. The proposed development includes an amendment to the development permitted under Reg. Ref. 21/1080, The proposed development will consist of the following to facilitate the above. Demolition of the existing structures on the western part of the site that comprises 4 no. industrial commercial buildings, an associated hut / outbuilding, a gas enclosure, and a tank with bund wall. The removal of the remains of a previously demolished building, areas of hard standing, and existing surface treatments. The relocation of the Energy Centre 1 to the western part of the site, which will supersede the previously permitted 110kV GIS substation compound at that location under ABP Ref: VA27.309252. The proposed development will provide for a revised energy centre design, to include the provision of 8 no. gas turbines (with associated flues of 25.15m in height), 4 no. black start emergency generators and associated transformers, 2 no. single storey fuel oil pump rooms with a gross floor area (GFA) of 90.17sq.m, a single storey air compressor building with a GFA of 88.9sq.m, 4 no. fuel tanks, 2 no. MCC control rooms with a GFA of 44.17sq.m, 3 no. fire water tanks, a single storey welfare, storage, and pump room building with a combined GFA of 160.97 sq.m, a two storey MV /LV building with a GFA of 655.54sq.m, 8 no. 11kV/ 33kV step-up transformers in the north of the site, water treatment equipment, and a security hut, all within a fenced compound. The proposed development includes landscaping and planting, boundary treatments, lighting, security fencing, car parking, and all site works including underground foul and storm water drainage network (including on-site wastewater treatment system), and utility cables, along with all associated and ancillary works. An EPA- Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) licence will be applied for to facilitate the operation of the proposed development |
| 2360437 | Conditional | 22 Jan 2024 | 0 | 203 m | the installation of circa. 3,492sq.m array of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on ground mounted frames on an agricultural plot within the existing Shelton Abbey Open Prison, together with ducting, underground electrical cabling, and all associated site works The proposed development is considered to be within the curtilage of a protected structure (RPS No. 40-05) listed under the current Wicklow County Development Plan 2022-2028. The proposed solar array installation will have no impact on the protected structure, located over 330.00 meters away from the proposed site. |
| 23320 | Conditional | 14 Aug 2023 | 0 | 76 m | for proposed change of use from industrial/warehouse to plastics recycling facility and associated works |
Appeals
| ACP case | Type | Outcome | Decided | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 310090 | — | Granted with conditions | 26 May 2022 | 0 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
- 15 Oct 2026 New application · observations close 19 Nov 2026
- 15 Oct 2026 Decision
Generated from the Planning Register store; nothing was fetched live for this page. Source: national planning dataset, fetched 28 Oct 2026, 01:34. Not legal advice — confirm the deadline with Wicklow County Council before relying on it.