A company part-owned by Bono is objecting to a planned apartment scheme for Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Clós Nua Ltd, part-owned by the U2 frontman and developer Paddy McKillen snr, has lodged a hard-hitting objection with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, claiming a proposed three-storey, eight-unit apartment scheme next door on Dalkey’s Castle Street will “devalue” the company’s Tramyard site.
Bono has a one third share in Clós Nua, which is behind plans to regenerate the Tramyard site. The company secured planning permission to redevelop the former tram terminus site in the centre of the south Dublin village in August 2021 in the face of stiff local opposition.
An Bord Pleanála gave the mixed-use scheme the go-ahead but only after quashing the company’s proposal for a rooftop bar and restaurant, citing “visual amenity” in the picturesque village.
Now, consultants for Clós Nua have claimed that the new eight-unit apartment scheme next door at 16/17 and 18 Castle Street is “unacceptable”. In July, Elaine Wann lodged plans with the council for the three-storey apartment scheme.
Clós Nua bought the Tramyard site for a reported €3 million to allow the regeneration plans to be lodged.
Planning consultant for Clós Nua Suzanne McClure of Brock McClure has claimed that the apartment scheme “represents significant overdevelopment that is entirely disproportionate for this small infill site”. She told the council that “construction on the [Tramyard] project is due to commence in the near future” and that Clós Nua “has serious concerns” relating to the Wann proposal, which would have a “disproportionate impact” on the Tramyard site.
Ms McClure described the apartment scheme as “inappropriate” and “incongruous” and said it would “constitute a form of development out of character and unsympathetic to its location in a conservation area in the centre of the Heritage Town of Dalkey”.
The apartment plan would mean the Tramyard site at 16a Castle Street “will experience a significant loss of amenity and privacy”, she said.
A decision is due on the application next week.
