A PROMINENT PROPERTY developer’s plan to build more than 100 apartments at a site in south Dublin has been knocked back by the planning board.
The Adroit Company had applied for permission to construct 121 apartments and a créche at a site in Harold’s Cross amid an acute housing shortage, which in turn is helping to fuel double-digit price rises.
Solar panels were to be mounted on the roofs of the apartments, which would have been divided into six blocks. The development would also have included 134 basement parking spaces and 80 bicycle spaces.
The project was planned for the site of the existing Harold’s Bridge Court complex, which is made up of 50 residential dwellings and a warehouse.
The current development, which was constructed in the 1990s, would have been demolished as part of the proposed works.
Martin Lydon
Well-known developer Martin Lydon is a director of the Adroit Company. Lydon is the son of another property developer of the same name. Between them, father and son have built more than 2,000 houses over the past 40 years.
The vast majority have been developed in the capital, although one of Lydon’s firms, Grandbrind, is building 164 homes in Kildare.
The Adroit Company’s initial application to build at the site near Harold’s Cross Road and Greenmount Lane was rejected by Dublin City Council.
The local authority turned down the application on several grounds, one of which was that the proposed development would have “overshadowed” existing nearby properties.
It said the proposed buildings would “seriously injure the amenities of property in the vicinity and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.
It also said that the proposed crèche outdoor play area would be too close to existing houses.
Appeal
After being knocked back, Adroit appealed its case to An Bord Pleanála. However, the planning body agreed with Dublin City Council’s decision on almost every point.
It said that the proposed venture would “constitute substandard overdevelopment of the site”.
The inspector’s report said that there were issues regarding the “lack of diversity in dwelling mix” and deficiencies in “quantity, layout (and) quality of public open space provision”.
It also said that the land should be used primarily for “employment generating” purposes, rather than residential.
Several other developers are currently looking to build in Harold’s Cross. Most notable amongst these is New Generation Homes, the company set up by Greg Kavanagh, which is planning to build hundreds of apartments in the area.
Dublin’s planning system was recently dismissed as “flawed” after another major development in south Dublin, for nearly 500 apartments at Sandyford, was knocked back by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. That ruling is under appeal.
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Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie
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