Building Heights
Table 14.4 - Application of the Guidelines on Urban Development and Building Heights to a County Kildare Context suggests that building heights of 6+ storeys may be appropriate in Celbridge town centre.
14.8.3 Integrating Taller Buildings into the Urban Environment acknowledges that "...due regard must be had to the existing characteristics of the receiving environment. In particular, care must be taken when making such interventions within town centres, many of which are Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs) and have an established building height of two to four storeys. It is therefore recognised that developments of greater than 6 storeys, as envisaged in the guidelines, would not generally be appropriate given the existing streetscape, the sensitive historic environment and may also not be viable. As provided for in the Guidelines (p.13), each proposal will be required to ‘…successfully integrate into/enhance the character and public realm of the area, having regard to topography, its cultural context, setting of key landmarks, protection of key views’."
It is hard to imagine how even a 4-6 story building would not have undue impact on Celbridge town center.
The phrase "subject to the avoidance of undue impacts on the existing residential or visual amenities" in Objective UD O12 to "Comply with the provisions of the Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Urban Development and Building Heights (2018)..." should be further qualified to reflect the above acknowledgement that tall buildings would not generally be appropriate given the existing streetscape.