Clós Nua Ltd, a company part-owned by Bono, has won a planning battle in relation to an apartment scheme for Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has refused planning permission to Elaine Wann for a proposed three-storey, eight-unit apartment scheme on Dalkey’s Castle Street. The proposed apartment scheme would lie adjacent to the Tramyard site which is owned by Clós Nua Ltd.
The U2 frontman has a one-third share in Clós Nua Ltd, which is behind plans to regenerate the Tramyard site. Clós Nua Ltd objected to the Wann apartment plan, claiming it would “devalue” its site.
Now, in a comprehensive refusal, the council has told Ms Wann that her apartment scheme “would seriously injure the amenities and depreciate the value of property in the vicinity”.
The council pointed out that the planned development is located within the Dalkey Village Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) and stated that the overall design of the proposed development, particularly the proposed mansard-type roof, “would be wholly inappropriate in the context of the historic village, would be visually intrusive and would set an unfavourable precedent”.
The council added: “Furthermore, the proposed development would not integrate sympathetically or respectfully within the historic fabric of the streetscape. Therefore, the resultant scale, massing and design of the proposed roof form are considered unacceptable.”
The objection lodged by Bono’s Clós Nua Ltd was one of five third-party submissions lodged concerning the scheme.
The council planner’s report stated that the “recommendation for refusal may address the bulk of the third-party concerns”.
Clós Nua Ltd secured planning permission to redevelop the former Tramyard site in the centre of the south Dublin village in August 2021 in the face of stiff local opposition.
Consultants for Clós Nua – part-owned by Bono and Belfast-born hotelier and property developer Paddy McKillen snr – claimed the apartment scheme next door at 16/17 and 18 Dalkey’s Castle Street was “unacceptable”.
Clós Nua purchased the Tramyard site for a reported €3 million to allow its regeneration plans to be lodged.
