Dublin City Council has received over 100 third-party submissions concerning plans by Ardstone for a new €300m apartment scheme near Milltown in Dublin.
The vast bulk of the submissions are objecting to Ardstone subsidiary, Sandford Living Ltd’s 636 unit Large Scale Residential Scheme (LRD) application.
The scheme is to be made up of 87 studios, 227 one bed units, 296 two bed units and 26 three bed units across seven apartment blocks with one rising to 10 storeys in height.
In 2019, Ardstone spent €65 million to buy the Jesuit Order lands at Sandford Road near Milltown.
On behalf of the applicants, planning consultant, Patricia Thornton of Thornton O’Connor Town Planning has told the council that the site is ideally suited to the provision of a residential development due to its sustainable location in Dublin in proximity to employment locations, public transport, services and facilities.
Urgent need
However, one resident, Clare Doherty of Upper Cherryfield Avenue, Ranelagh has told the council that she understands that there is an urgent requirement for housing in Dublin “but believes a more suitable and sustainable development plan needs to be put in place for this site”
Ms Doherty told the council that “the height and density of the proposed development is not in keeping with the residential nature of the surrounding area”
Ms Doherty has told the council that the site supports biodiversity and is currently home to a large variety of mammals, insects and plants and mature trees.
She said: "Much of this could be conserved if a more sustainable development proposal is achieved."
Declan Collier and Jan Winter of Sandford Rd, Ranelagh have told the Council that “the highest building at 10 storeys is out of character with the area and provides too much oversight of the existing neighbourhood properties, depriving the residents of privacy”.
Additional vehicles
The two state that the proposed development will result in more than 300 additional vehicles adding further congestion to already over-taxed roads.
Andrew O’Hanlon of Clonskeagh Rd has told the council that the application for nine/ten storeys “is completely unacceptable and is just developer greed”.
Amy Stephenson of Terenure Rd West has told the council that “I believe more housing is needed in this city. But this planned development does not adequately answer the housing problem”.
Ms Stephenson said: “The proposed size and scale of this development is completely out of character with the surrounding area.”
David Brophy and Tara Jennings of Cherryfield Avenue Lower have told the council that the scheme should be refused planning permission on a number of grounds including “that there is no capacity in local primary schools within walking distance to accommodate the number of children the developers anticipate living within a development at this scale”.
Olivia O’Reilly of Millbrook Court, Millbrook Rd has told the council that “if this development proceeds at the scale and density proposed, it will significantly detract from and alter the physical character and fabric of the Milltown Park site and its environs”.
Ms O’Reilly states that it will greatly impact on our quality of life and will have a negative impact on the local residential community, ecology and value of our homes
Chair of the Eglinton Residents Association, Robin Mandal has stated that “we believe that due to the excessive heights, bulk and density of the application on this site, the proposed buildings will be overbearing and out of scale with the area".
Mr Mandal claims that this overdeveloped scheme “will damage our community beyond repair”.
Ardstone received planning permission from An Bord Pleanala in December 2021 for a mainly build-to-rent apartment complex on the 10-acre site.
Howverm, after An Bord Pleanala consented to a High Court challenge against the planning permission last October, Ardstone stated that the decision “will regrettably add considerable and unnecessary delay as well as added expense to the delivery of much-needed housing units in the city centre”.
