Residents oppose revised plans for 402 apartments in south Dublin

Shannon Homes submits more modest proposal after previous permission was overturned by High Court amid concerns over density

Shannon Homes has applied for permission for a 402-apartment scheme at Taylor's Lane, Ballyboden in South Dublin. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Local residents are opposing plans by Shannon Homes for a 402-unit apartment scheme at Taylor’s Lane, Ballyboden in South Dublin.

Shannon Homes UC lodged the large-scale residential development (LRD) application with South Dublin County Council for the apartments across three blocks rising to five storeys in March.

The new plan follows the quashing by the High Court in January last year of permission granted by An Bord Pleanála for 486 apartments at the same site.

Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group, which took that judicial review last year, has lodged an objection against the new application.

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A report by McGill Planning, lodged with the new application, says the scheme has been altered to take into account comments by council planners while the building height has also been lowered, reducing density. The number of car spaces has also been cut.

It argued the proposal “is a well-designed scheme that provides a sense of place and identity on this brownfield, underutilised piece of land with good access to multiple frequent bus routes”, offering a “high quality living environment”.

Marston Consultancy, on behalf of the Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group, says the development will be contrary to the building height guidelines for the area and would result in excessive residential density for this location with inadequate high-capacity public transport.

Anthony Marston says the density is “not justifiable and will have a knock-on negative impact upon the quality of the development and layout but also more importantly on the residential and visual amenities of the surrounding residential areas”.

He says the council must conclude that permission should be refused as the scheme constitutes an overdevelopment of the site.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times