An Bord Pleanála has roundly rejected plans by Paddy McKillen Jnr for a 20-storey ‘build to rent’ tower block for Lucan in south Dublin.
The appeals board has refused planning on seven grounds to Fox Connect Ltd for the build to rent scheme beside the Foxhunter pub at Ballydowd, Lucan.
Paddy McKillen Jnr and Matthew Ryan who head up the Press Up Hospitality Group are listed as directors of Fox Connect Ltd.
The appeals board has refused planning permission after widespread opposition to the scheme with 146 submissions lodged with An Bord Pleanala by locals and the refusal upholds a refusal by South Dublin County Council in December 2020.
Objectors
The 161 unit build to rent scheme was made up of four blocks ranging from four to 20 storeys in height with the highest reaching 66 metres.
Those to object to the scheme include the Hermitage Park Residents Association, the Ardeevin Residents Association and Fine Gael TD Emer Higgins.
In her objection, Deputy Higgins stated that the plan to build the 20-storey block on the side of an existing residential estate “is totally out of keeping with the character of the adjacent residential estate”.
Objectors claimed that the “monolithic” 20 storey block would be a “horrific eyesore”, “a blot on the landscape” and “a visual nightmare”.
In a submission to the board, the firm claimed that the proposal would offer a quality residential development for future residents and would increase residential offer in a low density location.
The company also refuted claims that the scheme is overly dominant, intrusive or that it is significantly out of character with the area.
As part of its appeal, Fox Connect offered to reduce the 20-storey scheme to a 12-storey proposal.
'Visually incongruous'
The inspector in the case, Phillippa Joyce who recommended refusal, concluded that the 20-storey tower would be ‘visually incongruous’ at the ‘outer suburban location’ and that the justification for the building height is not substantiated.
However, endorsing Ms Joyce’s refusal recommendation An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission after concluding that due to the scheme’s excessive height, bulk, scale and massing, it would be visually obtrusive and would adversely impact on the visual amenity of the site and would seriously injure the residential amenities of property in the vicinity.
The appeals board also stated that the scheme would set an undesirable precedent for similar type developments in the area.
An Bord Pleanála pointed out that the proposed density equates to 253 houses per hectare which it stated is inappropriate for the site.
The appeals board also pointed out that the site is zoned for retail warehousing and that ‘residential’ is not allowed on such sites.
The appeals board also refused planning permission after stating that it was not satisfied that future residents of the proposed scheme would have acceptable standards of residential amenity due to the absence of information concerning microclimate conditions, noise protection measures and childcare facilities.
Planning permission was also refused by the appeals concern due to traffic concerns.
