A FRESH PLANNING battle is looming over controversial development plans for a site near St Anne’s Park in Raheny in north Dublin.

This follows one of the country’s largest building firms, the Marlet Group confirming that it is to lodge plans in the coming days with Dublin City Council for 580 apartments and a 100 bed nursing home for a 16.5 acre site on lands to the east of St Paul’s College at Sybil Hill, Raheny, Dublin 5.

The move by Patrick Crean’s Marlet Group follows the High Court last year overturning a planning permission for 657 dwellings on the site.

In the High Court in May of last year, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys noted that the proposed development at the site has so far clocked up four decisions by An Bord Pleanála and ten sets of legal proceedings “and counting”.

The published statutory planning notice concerning the new scheme by Marlet subsidiary, Raheny 3 Ltd Partnership states that it is to comprise seven apartment blocks from four to seven storeys in height and is to be lodged with Dublin City Council as a ‘Large Scale Residential Development’ (LSRD)’.

The new LSRD system is replacing the contentious Strategic Housing Development (SHD) system that is currently being phased out.

Under the SHD system, developers could by-pass local authorities and lodge plans direct to An Bord Pleanala.

As part of the LSRD system, developers must first lodge their plans with councils and parties have the option of appealing decisions to An Bord Pleanala.

The new Marlet scheme comprises 580 apartments that are made up of 272 one bed units, 15 two bed three-person units, 233 two bed four person units and 60 three bed units.

The scheme will also include 520 car parking spaces and 1,574 bicycle spaces.

The 100 bed nursing home is to be four floors in height and arranged around a court-yard.

The overall scheme also provides for 7.16 acres in open space that includes six playing pitches of varying size that will be taken in charge by Dublin City Council.

In his judgement in May of last year, Mr Justice Humphreys quashed the board’s third permission, dated August 2020, for the proposed development on former lands of St Paul’s College, Sybil Hill Road, Raheny, by Marlet’s Crekav Trading GP Ltd.

In 2018, the board granted its first permission, for 536 dwellings on the site, but that was overturned by the High Court and remitted for reconsideration.

On reconsideration, the board refused permission but the High Court upheld Crekav’s challenge over that refusal and again remitted the matter.

The board then granted permission in February 2020 for a revised development.

That second permission was also challenged and was overturned on consent on the basis of failure to meet requirements of the European Union’s Habitats Directive in relation to an Appropriate Assessment (AA) of the impact of the development on feeding grounds of the light-bellied Brent goose and other protected bird species in Dublin Bay.

The matter was again remitted to the board which granted permission in August 2020. Three legal challenges were then taken over that permission.