Planned staff accommodation on the grounds of the five star Powerscourt Hotel Resort and Spa is a reasonable solution to the housing and rental crisis and staff shortage facing the hospitality industry.
That is according to consultants for the Co Wicklow hotel, McGill Planning contained in a rebuttal submission to a planning appeal against the green light for a 56 bed staff block at the luxury hotel located near Enniskerry.
Last August, Scalaheen Limited, a company controlled by the Slazenger family, owners of the Powerscourt Estate lodged the appeal against the decision by Wicklow Co Council granting planning permission for the staff accommodation to the Wicklow Hotel Partnership.
The proposed development seeks the conversion of an existing car-park area to facilitate the construction of the staff accommodation.
The hotel lodged the planning application last June for the staff accommodation against the background of the hotel having to house staff in hotel suites at the resort due to the lack of accommodation locally.
McGill Planning told Wicklow Co Council that this was resulting in lower revenues and "is not a sustainable business model".
Floor plans of the hotel lodged with the application confirmed that over 25 hotel suites were being used to accommodate staff at the time.
McGill Planning has told the appeals board in its rebuttal submission that "the use of hotel bedrooms for temporary bedrooms for staff has come out of necessary rather than desire, due to the chronic shortage of rental accommodation which has also resulted in this planning application".
In a comprehensive submission with the appeals board on behalf of the applicants, McGill Planning has outlined the need for the staff block for the hotel which employs 350 employees making it one of County Wicklow's largest single site employers.
The Powerscourt hotel resort is part of the MHL Collection, a consortium led by US billionaire John Malone, and was purchased for over €50m in 2019.
McGill Planning state: "Exasperated by the current housing crisis, the availability of affordable housing near Powerscourt has resulted in the hotel experiencing great difficulty in attracting prospective employees."
McGill Planning state that "the proposed development is intended to provide a stop gap for staff who come to the hotel so that they can get started working without the stress of looking for rental accommodation".
The submission states that the accommodation will provide temporary sleeping quarters for staff "who due to the housing crisis are finding it incredibly difficulty to secure rental accommodation".
The McGill submissions states that the proposed development of staff accommodation is essential to the continued operation of the hotel as it provides essential facilities for staff of the hotel.
The submission states that the concept of staff accommodation is not new and the precedent has been established for this type of development in other hotels.
The appeals board did have a target date of April 4th in which to make a decision but wrote to all parties on April 3rd to confirm that the target date would not be met.
The letter stated that the board hopes to receive the inspector's report and recommendation on the appeal in the near future.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
