Friends of the Irish Environment and An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, are expected to closely monitor the second application by the President, Mrs McAleese, and her family to build a home at Lough Eidin, Co Roscommon.
Developers for the President consulted the two organisations in an attempt to find "common ground" after they successfully appealed to An Bord Pleanala against the planning permission granted last year for a two-storey development.
A new application in the name of Dr Martin McAleese, the President's husband, is expected to be lodged by Friday with Roscommon County Council for a single-storey house at Kilmacaril, Cootehall. The family has engaged Arthur Gibney & Partners as architects for the new design. The house plans are for the same 2,200 sq ft area, but at a different location on the 27.5acre site and farther back from the shore. A notice in the Ros- common Herald includes plans for a garage and outbuildings, and provision of a sewage treatment unit and percolation area, for the disposal of effluent.
The application last year was rejected by An Bord Pleanala because the site chosen "would be highly obtrusive and visually damaging" to the area's scenic character. The board considered the development was not compatible with the policy of conserving the natural environment and decided the plans for the disposal of effluent would be a pollution risk to the lake.
A spokesman for Friends of the Irish Environment said chartered surveyors for the President contacted the organisation. They visited the site and, because of FIE's concerns about the percolation tests, the surveyors agreed to have a hydrologist recognised by An Bord Pleanala conduct percolation tests.
A spokesman for An Taisce said the organisation was not in a position to comment as the application had not yet been lodged. The spokesman added, however, that "while we're reluctant to interfere with the long-term planning of as respected a figure as the President, it is An Taisce policy to take a stringent stance on one-off developments where no ascertainable compelling social need has been established and where there is no plan to engage in farming".
FIE is concerned that granting planning permission for the McAleese home would create a precedent in an area which is restricted for development. FIE yesterday lodged an appeal against planning permission granted for a residential development "in the immediate area". The spokesman added that plans for the McAleese home were "inextricably linked" with the sites of two neighbouring land-owners.
He said FIE had objected to permission granted for a residential development on land adjacent to the site owned by the President and her family and the plans had been withdrawn.
