Core Strategy Objective

There is no mention in the draft development plan about mews and townhouse type developments, this should be incorporated into the Development Plan as its own heading. We should be designing mews and townhouses suited to people of all ages which will encourage people to live in urban city centres. Waterford’s inner city is lacking new mews and townhouses type developments which will provide much needed housing to people. People are relying on developments outside of Waterford’s inner suburban location which places a strain on our infrastructure and services. We should be designing units that attract people back into the city where there is sufficient infrastructure, parks, shops and retail units for an attractive place to live in. We believe these types of units can be designed in urban infill sites to attract people to live in. We would ask you to consider the following:

• If these mews and townhouses were designed in a courtyard manner, a relaxation should be given to private garden areas and a shared communal area could be offered in the courtyard space with the privity amenity space on the roof of the mews and townhouses.
• Dual aspect should be omitted in urban infill sites which will allow an increased number of units for people to live.
• We should encourage schemes which provide a unified approach to the development of residential mews lanes and where consensus between all property owners has been agreed. This unified approach framework is the preferred alternative to individual development proposals.
• Development will generally be confined to two and three storey buildings where the proposed mews building is subordinate in height and scale to the main building, where there is sufficient depth between the main building and the proposed mews building to ensure privacy, where an acceptable level of open space is provided and where the laneway is suitable for the resulting traffic conditions and where the apartment units are of sufficient size to provide for a high quality residential environment. This is in line with national policy to promote increased residential densities in proximity to the city centre.
• Mews buildings should be permitted in the form of terraces.
• New buildings should complement the character of both the mews lane and main building with regard to scale, massing, height, building depth, roof treatment and materials. The design of such proposals should represent an innovative architectural response to the site and should be informed by established building lines and plot width. Depending on the context of the location, mews buildings may be required to incorporate gable-ended pitched roofs.
• The provision of rear access to the main frontage premises shall be sought where possible.
• All parking provision in mews lanes will be in off-street garages, forecourts or courtyards. One off-street car space should be provided for each mews building, subject to conservation and access criteria.
• New mews development should not inhibit vehicular access to car parking space at the rear for the benefit of the main frontage premises, where this space exists at present. This provision will not apply where the objective to eliminate existing unauthorised and excessive off-street car parking is being sought.
• Potential mews laneways must have a minimum carriageway of 4.8 m in width (5.5 m where no verges or footpaths are provided). All mews lanes should be considered to be shared surfaces, and footpaths need not necessarily be provided.
• The distance between the opposing windows of mews dwellings and of the main houses shall be generally a minimum of 22 m. This requirement may be relaxed due to site constraints. In such cases, innovative and high quality design will be required to ensure privacy and to provide an adequate setting, including amenity space, for both the main building and the mews dwelling.