Plans by Keith Craddock's Redrock Glenageary for a seven storey 140 unit apartment scheme for Glenageary in south Dublin are facing local opposition.
Mr Craddock’s Redrock application is a renewed attempt to build on the site after An Bord Pleanála in April of last year refused planning permission to Redrock for a 147 unit build to rent Strategic Housing Development (SHD) after the proposal encountered strong local opposition.
The new Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) scheme also includes a neighbourhood centre that will include commercial and retail units, a public plaza and a childcare facility at the junction of Sallynoggin Road and Glenageary Avenue, and Glenageary Roundabout, Glenageary.
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has received 36 submissions concerning the new proposal and in their submission, the Bellevue, Glenageary and Rochestown Residents Association has told the council that there are those, particularly from the nearby Sallynoggin cottages, who fervently believe that the proposed development "remains too large, too overbearing and too intrusive".
Local resident, Moira O’Malley said that "developers should not be allowed to over populate this area simply for the means of profit, when it is the community that has to live with the consequences".
Ms O’Malley said that she hopes "the hundreds of voices objecting to this development" will be heard, considered and that the decision to refuse permission will be made.
She added: "this may be a landmark site, however an uninspiring and unimaginative apartment block, that would be more suitable for the IFSC, aesthetically cheapens the area rather than enriching it".
Douglas Barry has told the council that at seven storeys high this will be the highest building in the area.
Mr Barry states that "architecturally, this will not be a statement building enhancing the built environment, but equally, unfortunately more like 'stick out like a sore thumb’ building dominating the small urban street landscape of single storey terraces".
Local resident, Eamonn Ussher has told the council that the scheme "will have a major impact on me and my community".
He said: "The buildings are far too high for this area. My street with its small artisan cottages would be overshadowed. We would not see any sun whatsoever from October to May. I live directly opposite the proposed site."
He said: "I have a very elderly mother in law who is in her eighties is terrified that these building works will go ahead."
Former Environment Editor with The Irish Times, Frank McDonald has also lodged a submission opposing the scheme.
Mr McDonald has told the Council that nobody who believes in proper planning and sustainable development could deny that there is a need for greater density in urban areas to curb ex-urban sprawl.
He adds: "But this objective cannot be achieved at any price by permitting high rise eruptions on a random basis."
Mr McDonald believes that it is premature to grant planning permission in advance of preparing the Sallynoggin LAP while describing the proposal as "overbearing due to its height, massing and excessive density".
In a planning report lodged with the new application, planning consultants, Brock McClure state that at the outset, it was the applicant's full intention to address the reasons for refusal in the previous scheme
They state that "careful attention has been given to the protection of the existing levels of amenity afforded to the surrounding properties".
The consultants state that the applicant has a newly appointed design team which has provided a fresh outlook on the site constraints and opportunities in the design of the proposed scheme.
The consultants state that "the proposed scheme with its active frontage at ground floor level and the proposed architectural features of an arch create a welcoming pedestrian passageway from the roundabout through an active internal public plaza".
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
