Planning permission has been granted for a whiskey maturation storage warehouse for the new Ahascragh Distillery.
Easyfix Ltd has been given the green light from An Bord Pleanála to build a single-storey warehouse with a 2,082m² floorspace near Ballinasloe.
The brownfield site is located at Perssepark, just off the R348, approximately 11km south of Ahascragh, and was previously used as a sand/gravel pit, and a storage site for Bord Gais.
The warehouse will be used for maturing whiskey in casks after the spirit has been distilled at the newly opened Ahascragh Distillery.
Galway County Council refused planning for the warehouse last year, citing the location in an unserviced rural area which is not currently zoned for development.
The council also expressed concerns about the potential ecological and environmental impacts of the development.
This decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála, which ultimately gave it the go-ahead with 10 conditions attached.
The Board’s inspector said that there are unlikely to be any traffic hazards, environmental impacts, visual impact or loss of residential amenity arising from this warehouse.
The decision also stated that it is in line with national policy aimed at supporting the rural economy through a “sustainable and economically efficient” agricultural and food sector.
The €10 million Ahascragh Distillery, located in the renovated and restored 19th Century Mill in town, celebrated its grand opening in July 2023.
This is the first zero emissions distillery in Ireland, with production powered entirely by renewable energy – wind, solar and soon, hydroelectricity, and making use of very high-temperature heat pump technology and an energy-efficient storage system.
