A number of private property owners at the Mount Juliet estate and An Taisce are opposing plans by businessman Barry English’s to expand the Manor House at Mount Juliet hotel located there.
Last month, English’s Golden Beam Hospitality Ltd lodged plans with Kilkenny Co Council for 19 new guest suites and spa facilities to include 13 treatment rooms, including an indoor thermal spa, at Mount Juliet estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
The scheme includes a partial demolition of the existing two-storey extension on the south wing of the hotel and the construction of a new two-storey extension, including an underground basement level, to the western and eastern elevations of the hotel.
In a separate planning application to be lodged in the coming days, Golden Beam Hospitality is seeking an additional 27 guest suites at Mount Juliet.
The two applications follow data centre developer Barry English purchasing the 125-bedroom hotel and 500-acre estate for around €50 million in 2024.
However, a number of property owners at the Walled Gardens at Mount Juliet are opposing the scheme.
In one objection, Peter J Quigley has told the council that the overall development was inappropriate to the historic Manor House, its protected landscape setting and the existing residential community living within the estate.
Other Walled Garden residents are also objecting. They include Colin Gordon and Susan Bunworth Gordon, Richard F Barnes, John and Ann Leahy, Madeleine Sheridan and Gillian Hunter.
Ian Lumley on behalf of the Irish Land Trust has told the council that the proposals are unjustified in scale, ill conceived in design and injuries to the character of Mount Juliet.
On behalf of Co Kilkenny Association of An Taisce, Mary T Brennan has requested the council to take into account “the detrimental impact this development would have on the special character and classical composition of the Manor House”.
In a planning report lodged with the scheme lodged last month, planning consultants for the applicants, Hughes Planning and Development Consultants (HPDC) said that the key objective of the proposed development was “to enhance the existing Mount Juliet Estate premises and its current service offering”.
HPDC state that this will be done by providing “for a reinvigorated and improved customer experience for incoming patrons with the provision of added public amenities in the form of additional bedrooms, a spa facility and private diningroom”.
The planning report states that the proposals seek to protect the existing amenity of adjoining properties and also to respect the character and appearance of the existing Manor House.