AN APPLICATION FOR planning permission has been made for a major property development beside St Anne’s Park in north Dublin, more than a year after the developer’s initial submission to build in the area was rejected.
Crekav Trading, a subsidiary of developer Pat Crean’s Marlet Property Group, has applied for permission to build 657 apartments, in blocks between five and nine storeys high, on grounds formerly used as sports pitches at Sybil Hill Road in Raheny.
Crekav initially lodged planning permission to build 104 houses and 432 apartments, but the plan was rejected in 2018 by An Bórd Pleanála after a High Court case taken by Clonres CLG, a group representing local residents.
In September 2018, the Board refused permission on the basis of legal points raised in the court challenge concerning European environmental directives, specifically relating to the potential impact on bird species, particularly Brent geese.
Donna Cooney, a Green Party councillor for the Clontarf ward said to the revised application was “shocking”.
“It makes a sham of the democracy of local government”, she said.
The High Court case taken by Clonres represented the first time a decision made under the State’s new “fast-track” planning system had been challenged.
Under this system, large-scale housing applications are determined directly by the board, not local authorities.
Cooney criticised the decision to lodge a plan consisting largely of apartments for “one, two or three people”.
“It’s not going to be for families”, she said. “As the number of 3-bedroom units are only 55 out of 657 units this development is not to building a sustainable community, but more likely to be bought off plan for rental transient tenants.”
She added that the site is not designated for high-rise apartment blocks under the zoning objective in Dublin City Development plan 2016-2022.
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