A DEVELOPER HAS sought planning permission to build almost 200 apartments in buildings up to 12 storeys in height on the site of an old bakery in Phibsborough, Co. Dublin, after a previous decision was quashed by the High Court.

Bindford Limited has submitted a Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) application to Dublin City Council to build 196 apartments.

This will include 118 build-to-sell apartments and 78 build-to-rent apartments at 113 Phibsborough Road, which is also known as the Old Bakery Site.

The build-to-sell apartments will include 58 one-bed and 60 two-bed apartments.

The build-to-rent will be made up of 52 studio, 22 one-bed and four two-bed apartments.

The proposed development will be located at Cross Guns Bridge along the Royal Canal.

The development will include the demolition of the existing buildings on the site which are connected with the old bakery and have been derelict for over 35 years, and replacing them with three apartment blocks.

Two of the block will reach seven storeys with the remaining block being 12 storeys in height.

Bindford was previously granted planning permission in May 2021 by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) for a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) of 205 build-to-rent apartments on the site.

The planning permission was strongly contested by local residents, who took a judicial review to the High Court against the ABP decision.

ABP withdrew from the case earlier this year, and the planning permission decision was overturned.

In a 200-page planning report compiled by Brenda Butterly acting for consultants McGill Planning, it is argued that while the planning permission was quashed, the original ABP decision showed that the “principle of redevelopment of this site for residential is acceptable in principle”.

“While this application was quashed following a judicial review it is considered that, given the grant of permission, the views of Dublin City Council and the An Bord Pleanála Inspector are an important planning consideration for any future development on this site,” Butterly states.

“With regard to Dublin City Council, while the overall recommendation was for refusal, they also found that many aspects of the development were appropriate.”

The site was added to DCC’s Vacant Site Register in 2017. Since 2017 all local authorities have had to maintain a register of vacant sites that are suitable for development.

These sites are then subject to a levy, currently charged at 7% per annum.

Bindford appealed its entry on the register to ABP, but the challenge failed.

It has since brought a judicial review to the High Court, with legal proceedings ongoing.

In the planning report, Butterly said that the developers were “anxious” to develop the land, and may have to look into temporary uses if permission was not granted.

“It is also noted that the applicant is anxious to develop the lands, as the site has been targeted for site activation measures, including vacant site levy and residential zoned land tax,” Butterly stated.

“Where the planning process or legal challenge process is protracted, it may be necessary to activate the lands for meanwhile uses that are exempted development, temporarily, pending the freedom to implement a permission for development of the lands.”

Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) applications are for developments of over 100 homes or 200 beds of student accommodation.

They are made to local authorities and are set to replace Strategic Housing Developments (SHDs), which are applications made directly to An Bord Pleanála.

SHD decisions have been challenged frequently in the High Court in recent years via judicial reviews, with a significant number being overturned as a result.

The last date for the public to make observations on the planning application is 6 July.