Plans for 10 storey student accommodation rejected in Donnybrook

Gordon Deegan

A group of Dublin 4 residents have won their planning battle in preventing a 10 storey 225 bedspace student accommodation for Donnybrook getting the green light.

This follows An Bord Pleanala overturning Dublin City Council’s grant of planning permission and refusing planning to Keith Craddock’s Red Rock Donnybrook Ltd for a Large Scale Residential Development (LRD) at lands at the Circle K Petrol Station at the junction of Donnybrook Road and Brookvale Road, Donnybrook.

The Council had granted planning permission after omitting two storeys from the 10-storey block scheme.

When the case was before the Council, the Donnybrook Lawn Tennis Club was one of the parties to object, claiming that the plan “exceed the densities of Manhattan by someway”.

In a strongly worded objection, the Tennis Club said that the club “is a private club and has a reasonable expectation not to be excessively overlooked. It is not a public park."

Two third party appeals were lodged against the Council decision with An Bord Pleanala by Eglinton Residents Association and by David and Valerie Clarke of Ramleh Villas, Milltown Rd, Dublin 6.

In support of the appeals, the Donnybrook Lawn Tennis Club lodged a submission with the appeals board stating that the height and density are excessive.

Now, in its decision to refuse planning permission, An Bord Pleanala concluded that the removal of the two storeys by the Council “failed to resolve the problems with the functionality associated with the ground floor layout”.

In the decision signed off by Board member, Paul Caprani, it found that the original 10 storey proposal “is excessive in terms of height, form, site coverage and scale and would constitute a dominant and overbearing structure in the context of the existing environment”.

The board also concluded that the scheme does not provide an appropriate transition in height and scale and would have an excessive overbearing effect on adjoining property.

The appeals board also refused planning permission as the proposal would provide for a poor frontage along the Donnybrook Rd, through its design, the overhang of the building over the public footpath and the narrowness of the footpath.

The planning refusal continued to state that “due to the layout and functionality of the building at ground floor level, the proposal would fail to enliven the streetscape and therefore would provide for a poor quality of urban design on entering the village on R138.

The board stated that the proposal would militate against an attractive pedestrian environment and be contrary to the City Development Plan which seeks to protect, improve and expand the pedestrian network in the city.

In a response to the third party appeals, Red Rock Donnybrook stated that there is a demand for such uses to facilitate third level institutions pointing out the site’s proximity to UCD.

The applicants also stated that the design of the proposed building is appropriate in terms of the character of the area and impact on Donnybrook Village and the proposal h is justified in terms of its height, density and mixed-use.