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Developer Bartra asked to cut back scale of Brady’s Pub development

Plans for a five-storey, 56-apartment scheme on Dublin’s Old Navan Road encounter considerable opposition

Planners told Bartra their plan lacks sufficient architectural interest and is monolithic in form. Photograph: Getty Images

Gordon Deegan
Fri Jul 5 2024 - 16:12

Developer Bartra has been told to reduce the height and scale of its contentious plan for a €30 million apartment scheme on Dublin’s Old Navan Road.

The five-storey 56-unit proposal is facing strong local opposition with 75 objections lodged with Fingal County Council for the site at Brady’s Public House.

One of those to object is Castleknock resident Barry O’Lone who last year turned down a €100,000 offer from Bartra to withdraw a High Court challenge against a 210-bed co-living scheme for the same site opposite his family home.

The co-living scheme did not proceed and in May, Bartra Property (Castleknock) Ltd lodged plans for the apartment scheme for the site.

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As part of his objection, Mr O’Lone repeats the allegation he was previously offered €100,000 by Bartra in April 2023 to withdraw the High Court judicial review against the co-living scheme. Bartra has previously declined to comment.

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In the objection, Mr O’Lone attached the April 2023 Bartra letter to him outlining the €100,000 offer though the council has made the contents unavailable to view.

Calling on the council to refuse planning permission for the new 56-unit scheme, Mr O’Lone pointed out that his family home is located directly opposite the site at Brady’s pub and the “proximity, height and style of development will adversely affect the residential nature of the area and my home”.

The council has now sought revised plans from Bartra. In a letter to the applicants, it said a “reduction in scale and height is warranted”.

“The proposed building lacks sufficient architectural interest and is monolithic in form and would be visually obtrusive upon the surrounding streetscapes and impact negatively on the current level of visual amenity enjoyed at this location”.

The council stated that, as such, the scheme does not comply with certain objectives of the Fingal Development Plan and asked it to “revise the design of the building to overcome the concerns raised”.

However, in an accompanying 33-page report, the planner states that due to the zoning of the site, the nature and scale of the proposal is acceptable but states “there are a number of issues which need to be addressed”.

The planning application involves the demolition of the existing pub and restaurant and the construction of a part-three to part-five storey scheme consisting of 23 one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom apartments.

A planning report by Thornton O’Connor Town Planning lodged with the application states that the proposed development will “provide a high-quality living environment”.

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