Plans by property investment group Tetrarch to build 114 residential units for "assisted living" for people aged 65 and over, on land owned by the Society of Sacred Heart order of nuns beside Mount Anville girls schools in Goatstown are facing local opposition.
In November, Tetrarch lodged its Large-Scale Residential Development (LRD) plans with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to build 100 apartments across seven blocks and 14 houses on a 2.9-acre site known as the "old farm", on the grounds of Mount Anville in south Dublin.
Two of the blocks will rise to five storeys and the scheme is to include facilities such as gym/wellness centre, Barista bar, small cinema, library, meeting rooms, communal dining area, and a range of optional activities and social opportunities.
In a submission lodged with the application, planning consultants, Manahan Planners state that is the Design Team's vision "to provide a leading example of suitable, adaptable living and delivering a specialised tenure option that supports localised 'downsizing' or 'rightsizing', whilst retaining and celebrating the site's local context and providing a respectful and elegant infill development situated in the heart of an established, vibrant suburban community".
Manahan Planners said that the applicants' legal advice is that Part V Social Housing provision requirements don’t apply to Assisted Living Proposals but Tetrarch Residential are willing to volunteer an agreed level of supply of social and affordable housing within the proposal and are continuing to liaise with the relevant bodies in seeking to ensure that this is provided.
However, the submission reveals that this is after discussions with the Housing Department at the council where "the council made clear that they would not be in a position to afford the level of internal fit out which is proposed in this development".
"Furthermore, they would not be unable to pay the projected management and staff costs related to the ongoing running of the facility. In addition, they would not be in a position to pay for their expected costs of maintenance internally but in particular in relation to the high costs that the landscaping and gardening will generate on an ongoing basis".
Manahan Planners state that the proposed development will provide an appropriate form of high quality residential development for this suitably zoned site.
However, in one submission, 49 residents of the Old Lower Kilmacud Rd said that they while they support of 'mixed tenure age friendly housing’ they are objecting to the proposal in its current form.
The residents said that the scheme represents a premature development of the Mount Anville estate arguing that "the development of any part of the Estate, including the Old Farm, should not be permitted in the absence of plan" for the lands.
The residents state that the lands should not developed in a piecemeal manner "in the absence of a masterplan that guides and assesses the cumulative impact of the development of the Mount Merrion estate lands".
The residents further add: "We believe that the Old Farm building should not be demolished but should be incorporated into the development".
In their submission, Adrian and Aisling Eccles state that they object strongly to the application as it currently stands though in principle support the nature of the scheme.
Highlighting road safety concerns, the Eccles state that the planned scheme will add to an already dangerous situation unless action is taken to address the issue.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
