Galway Bay fm newsroom - City planners have turned down a proposal for a significant expansion of to the Skeffingon Arms Hotel.
The project would have seen the demolition of the existing nightclub building at Ballalley Lane to make way for a seven-storey building over the existing basement.
This would make way for 44 hotel bedrooms.
The project led by Skeffington Arms Limited also involved realignment structural consolidation and re-cladding of the existing, established second storey bridge linking to the main hotel building to provide an upper level link between the existing hotel and the proposed extension.
The existing basement would have remained in-situ, while the ground floor and sixth floors would also have contained customer facilities including reception, foyer, restaurant, café/breakfast area.
Part of the proposed development is located within the Eyre Square Architectural Conservation Area and the site is adjacent to a number of protected structures.
In making their decision, city planners cited two factors.
One stated the overall poor design including the scale, massing, height and low quality visual appearance of the proposed extension, the resulting expression onto the city centre streetscape, the unacceptable interface with the neighbouring protected structures and impact on the Eyre Square architectural conservation area all contribute to the unacceptable nature of the development.
