Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to publican Tom Cleary for a new hotel for Dublin’s Temple Bar area.
Mr Cleary is the owner of one of the country's best known pubs, The Temple Bar in Temple Bar.
The council refused the planning permission for the 47-bedroom hotel facing onto Dame Street and Eustace Street as it "could lead to an over-concentration of hotel and apart-hotels in the local area and a lack of variety of uses in the vicinity".
The application involved the change of use of a building known as the Shamrock Chambers, which is a five-storey over basement building comprised of a vacant restaurant, shop and vacant office, for the six-storey hotel. The ground floor of the new scheme was to be a new bar/restaurant.
The council planner's report recommending the refusal stated the council had serious concerns with the proposed change of use of the premises to a hotel.
The report said the council must strike a balance between the need to provide for adequate levels of visitor accommodation and other uses in the city, such as residential, social, cultural and economic.
The report concluded that Chambers Properties Ltd "has not adequately demonstrated that there is not an over concentration of hotel and aparthotels in the vicinity of the site".
The council added that given the current housing crisis, national planning policy and the clear direction in the current development plan in terms of promoting mixed-use development with a focus on residential in the city centre, "the proposed change of use is not in accordance with development plan policy and does not represent the best use of the upper floors of this vacant city centre site".
The council also said the proposal is contrary to the City Development Plan which seeks to maintain the cultural mixed use of Temple Bar and has a presumption against the expansion of licensed premises in the area.
Previous application
Planning permission was previously granted for an application lodged in 2017 for the change of use to a hotel on the same site and the construction of an additional floor, but this application has since expired.
However, the planner’s noted the new City Development Plan 2022-2028 acknowledged that towards the end of the last Development Plan period, the city saw numerous applications for the development of new hotels and for the expansion of existing hotels.
The report also disclosed the applicant did not submit a report indicating all existing and proposed hotel and aparthotel developments within a 1km catchment, providing a justification that the development will not undermine the principles of achieving a balanced pattern of development in the area.
A planning report by Thornton O’Connor Town Planning lodged with the new plan stated the hotel site is in "the very centre of Dublin’s tourism offering in terms of attractions, entertainment, dining/drinking and culture".
The Thornton O’Connor report added the planned restaurant/bar would add to the vibrancy of Dame Street.
It also claimed "the proposed change of use and additional storey are a positive proposition for Shamrock Chambers, bringing an under-utilised but historic and characterful property back into a more active and sustainable state and use", adding: "The design, including the new storey, respects the existing building and its environs, including the merits of the Conservation Area."
The report further contended that the proposed hotel, which would have its main entrance onto Eustace Street, "will not result in an over-concentration of hotels/aparthotel accommodation in this part of the city as has been recently assessed by the council".
