Council delivers knockout blow to Conor McGregor's sprawling mansion plan

Kildare Co Council has delivered a knockout blow to plans by MMA fighter Conor McGregor to construct a sprawling mansion, complete with a cinema, bar and two swimming pools
Council delivers knockout blow to Conor McGregor's sprawling mansion plan

Gordon Deegan

Kildare County Council has delivered a knockout blow to plans by MMA fighter Conor McGregor to construct a sprawling mansion, complete with a cinema, bar and two swimming pools.

The local authority refused planning permission to McGregor’s application to demolish his existing five-bedroom home at The Paddocks in Straffan and replace it with 32,693sq ft six-bedroom "family home".

The council rejected the plans after McGregor refused to reduce the scale of the original house.

Last July, the council told McGregor that the design and scale of the proposed home due to its length, massing and scale did not comply with the Kildare County Development Plan and requested him to submit revised plans to account of the County Development Plan.

Instead, a submission lodged on behalf of McGregor earlier this month said that it was clear from a revised suite of photomontages submitted that the site had "the capacity to comfortably absorb the proposed dwelling without resulting in any undue impacts or dis-amenity to surrounding residents".

The submission said the photomontages showed the careful siting of the proposed home and the large scale nature of the site.

It also said the planned home was “largely screened from the view from the adjacent public road and neighbouring properties, any intermittent views are further obscured to the presence of existing and proposed supplementary planting”.

The McGregor plan comprises a two storey over basement house complete 19.6m indoor swimming pool, a 21 metre outdoor swimming pool and a cinema.

The ambitious plan also includes a fully sunken basement to include car-parking, a bar, games area, ancillary rooms.

The council refused planning permission after its own transportation department had recommended refusal.

An internal report shows that the transportation department said it was council policy to discourage the increase of access points onto public roads.

The department said the proposal was in conflict with the county development plan and was unnecessary given that the existing access to the dwelling was fit for purpose.

McGregor paid out €3 million for The Paddocks in 2019. Planning documentation shows that McGregor’s staff were to be housed in a nearby home at No 5 Castledillon “which is now also in the full ownership of the applicant”.

Records with the Residential Property Price Register show that No 5 Castledillon was purchased for €1.65 million in June 2022.

The purchasing of the neighbouring No 5 Castledillon increased McGregor’s landholding from 5.8 acres to 10 acres.

The new home was designed by Dublin-based architects Tyler Owens Architects.

McGregor previously secured planning permission to partly demolish and extend and renovate The Paddocks.

However, Tyler Owens Architects told the council that having started the process of demolition back in 2022, it became apparent that the existing quality of construction of the remainder of the house, along with the client’s changing needs, indicated that the works would not make sense.

This resulted in the planning application for the complete demolition of the Paddocks and replacing it with a new family home.

It added that it balances modern architectural innovation with respect for local elements, offering a dwelling that complements its setting while addressing future need.

McGregor now has the option of appealing the decision to An Bord Pleanála.

In November in the High Court, a jury found against McGregor in the civil rape case taken by Nikita Hand and McGregor has until the middle of next month to lodge appeal papers.

The Dublin woman was awarded nearly €250,000 in damages after the jury found that she was raped by McGregor in the Dublin hotel in December 2018 and McGregor also faces paying the bulk of the legal costs estimated at more than €1m associated with the case.

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