A planning application for a new service station adjacent to the site of the Creeslough explosion is to be lodged by the owners of the original site on which 10 people died in October 2022.
The new application will be lodged by the Lafferty family with Donegal County Council in the coming days.
The proposed site is adjacent to the site on which the October 7th explosion occurred.
A planning application will be made in the names of Annette and Danny Martin Lafferty to the council.
RM Block
The intended planning notice was lodged in a local newspaper on Thursday.
The application will include permission to demolish an existing house on the site and also seek permission to build an extensive new service station.
The proposal includes a new building that will incorporate a shop, post office, off-licence, deli, toilets, staff facilities and a forecourt.
The application also refers to underground storage tanks and pumps, a car wash facility, an outdoor launderette kiosk, an ATM and various signage.
The new application comes five months after An Bord Pleanála overturned planning permission for a new filling station on the site of the original explosion.
The council granted permission to Vivo Shell Limited to redevelop a service station and shop at the site in February. That decision was appealed by a number of family members of those killed in the blast.
On turning down the application for a new building, An Bord Pleanála said the proposed plan was “out of character” with its surroundings in the village.
The proposed rebuild had allowed for the demolition of the existing building where the explosion occurred.
A memorial garden and light-based sculpture with 10 metal poles commemorating those who perished in the tragedy was also planned for the site.
However, many of the victim’s families said this was an insult to the memory of their relatives, considering they died in the metal and rubble of the blast.
The land on which the original service station was built is still owned by the Lafferty family. Last month, a motion was passed by Donegal County councillors seeking a compulsory purchase order on the site of the tragedy.
