Ronan docklands project under fire from residents

Plans by developer Johnny Ronan to increase the scale of a residential and aparthotel development in Dublin's docklands are being opposed by a number of local residents. Last month, Mr Ronan's Spencer Place Development Co Ltd lodged plans to add 122 residential units and 27 aparthotel rooms to the development. If granted, it would give Mr Ronan's firm planning permission to construct 471 residential units and a 127-bedroom aparthotel. The development is currently under construction and is due to be complete in 2020. However, seven locals have objected including Tony and Hilda McDonnell of Upper Mayor Street who have told the city council that permission must be refused as the application goes against the objectives of the North Lotts Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) planning scheme. 

Read the full article @ The Irish Independent

Midleton GAA gets green light for move to new site

Midleton GAA club has secured planning permission for a move to new grounds to cater an expansion in its membership. An Bord Pleanála has rejected an appeal by a local resident living near the site of the proposed new clubhouse at Park South off the Youghal Rd in the east Cork town. The planning appeals board upheld the original decision of Cork County Council to approve the development of new facilities for Midleton GAA club against the recommendation of its own inspector. Subject to a number of planning conditions, the board said the new club grounds would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenities of the area.

Reads the full article @ The Irish Examiner

Galway Hospice ‘shocked and devastated’ by planning refusal

Galway Hospice has decided not to appeal the “devastating” refusal of planning permission for a new facility on the grounds of Merlin Park hospital. The board of the hospital said it had “reluctantly” decided not to seek a judicial review of An Bord Pleanála’s decision because of the significant costs and risks involved. The provision of a new hospice in the city will be greatly delayed as a search is undertaken for a new site, it warned. The current hospice facility on the Dublin Road at Renmore is not fit for purpose and the search for a new site began in 2010. The proposal to build a new facility at Merlin Park was approved by Galway City Council and recommended by an An Bord Pleanála inspector but overturned by the planning board, who said the development would be “inappropriate and contrary to policies to protect natural heritage”.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

€10m social housing plan for former company HQ in Cork

Plans to convert a 1960s office block in one of Cork's most desirable residential areas into a €10m social housing scheme have been unveiled. Cork City Council has published a Part 8 planning application today seeking permission to adapt and extend the former Springville House in Blackrock, and then change its use to facilitate the development of 35 residential units within the fabric of the existing office building. The plans are open for public consultation until May 13. The prime 0.6-acre site on the city's Blackrock Rd, close to Ashton School and the South Link Rd.

Read the full article @ The Irish Examiner

Six apartment blocks to be built in Chapelizod without planning permission

 

A complex of six “rapid build” social housing apartment blocks, up to five storeys high, is to be built beside the Phoenix Park in Chapelizod by Dublin City Council, without going through the planning process. Work is due to start next month on the complex of 71 apartments, which is set to be the first prefabricated apartment development built in the city, on the site of community allotments at Springvale opposite the 19th-century Church of the Nativity on Chapelizod Road, Dublin 20. Local residents have described the development as “disastrous” for Chapelizod village but have had no opportunity to appeal the scheme because the council is developing it without seeking planning permission.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

Historic Dublin bakery faces demolition for student scheme

Plans for five blocks of student accommodation up to eight storeys high on Dublin’s Parnell Street are facing opposition over the partial demolition of the old St Peter’s Bakery. SP Bakery Ltd intends to apply to An Bord Pleanála for fast-track planning permission for the complex for 257 students at the east end of Parnell Street, close to the junction with Gardiner Street and opposite the 491-bed Kavanagh Court student scheme. Under the Strategic Housing Development system applications for schemes of more than 100 homes, or blocks of 200 student bed spaces, are made directly to the board, bypassing the local authority decision phase.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times

Holiday homeowners ‘dictating’ the needs of Kerry community

The chief executive of a major New York construction company has hit out at the influence of holiday homeowners in the planning process in rural Ireland, saying environmental objectors are getting “to dictate” the needs of communities.There is growing anger in south Kerry that plans for a revamp of the landmark Cable O’Leary’s bar and hotel, the only facility in the village overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay, have been blocked after a number of objections, primarily from some of the roughly 300 holiday homeowners in the area. Amid continuing decline in population, just 50 houses are now occupied on a permanent basis in what is the heart of the south Kerry Gaeltacht.

Read the full article @ The Irish Times