Bruno Loirat and Karine Jacquesson have appealed the decision by the local authority to refuse permission to retain solar panels on the front elevation of the former Holy Trinity Church in Achill, which has been renovated into a dwelling house.
The appeal was lodged after Mayo County Council planners found that the solar panels were unauthorised and retaining them would 'significantly distract' from the visual and historical prominence of the former Church of Ireland church .
The building which is located across the road from the Achill GAA pitch in Polranny is currently listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
The former Holy Trinity Church building which dates back almost 200 years was purchased by the appellants from the Church of Ireland in 2004 having been on the market for a considerable period of time. At the time the property was lying derelict and in a state of disrepair and Bruno Loirat and Karine Jacquesson were given permission to change the use of the building into a private dwelling.
In a letter to Mayo County Council, they stated that since 2004 the property has been well maintained and they incurred significant expenditure in conserving the building and developing it as a home suitable for modern life.
They stated that the property is screened by trees, hedges and shrubs and is not visible from the public road except when one looks directly down a narrow driveway from the entrance gate.
“For energy efficiency and environmental purposes we installed the solar panels on the front facade of the building. The panels blend in perfectly due to its colour and we say that they are not noticeable from the public road. The panels also add to the protection of the front facade of the building from harsh weather,” they wrote.
Despite being advised that they could cover the whole roof with solar panels they stated that they decided against it because they had completely renovated the roof with natural slate in 2006 and felt the panels would 'interfere with the vista from the surrounding area'.
“The fact of the matter, in our view, is that without our purchase, conservation and considerate development of the property, it would have long since fallen into a dilapidated state beyond repair,” they concluded in the application for retaining the solar panels.
The solar panels are 31 square metres in size and encompass most of the front elevation of the building. They were deemed not exempt from development following an application in 2023 and an application for retention was made in May 2024.
A submission against the application to retain the solar panels was made by a neighbour, Nora Seoighte who stated that she wished to 'object to the unacceptable damage caused to the special interests of this building by this development'. She stated in her submission that the external materials of the solar panels 'clearly do not match the materials at the back' of the building and as such is in breach of planning conditions set out in 2004.
The application for retention was refused by Mayo County Council in early July as the development would interfere with the character of the landscape of which it is necessary to preserve and would be 'contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area'.
The appeal was lodged with An Bord Pleanála earlier this month and the decision is due to be made on December 9.