Residents in south Dublin are fighting moves to demolish a “D4 gem” – Smyth’s pub on Haddington Road – and replace it with a larger premises and apartments many fear will create a “super pub”.
Dublin City Council has already granted planning permission to Courtney Lounge Bars Ltd to demolish the existing building and replace it with a four-storey and part five-storey structure.
Its mixed-use will include a pub at basement and ground floor level and six residential units in the upper floors.
However, local R John McBratney and other unnamed objectors have now lodged a single appeal with An Bord Pleanála.
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The council had previously granted permission after concluding the scheme “would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or property in the vicinity”.
In response to those initial plans, the Pembroke Road Association told the council that “a local pub can be a wonderful social amenity in a mixed residential area, as Smyth’s has been over the years, but a ‘super’ pub in the same type of area is a problem”.
In his original objection, Mr McBratney contended: “It is a substantial intensification of the use of the site. I note the application is silent as to why the pub serving area needs to be increased further.”
A resident of nearby Percy Place, Mr McBratney said: “I believe in city living . . . It has been a marvellous place to live notwithstanding the changes in the streetscape in the intervening years.
“The proposed development would radically change what is known as Smyth’s pub and create a five-storey building with protruding balconies and a roof terrace which would overbear the houses in Percy Place.”
He described the plan as an over-development of the site that stood to “seriously injure my enjoyment of my home”.
Mr McBratney also said he was concerned the proposed balconies might end up facilitating parties “particularly if any of these apartments were to be used for short term holiday lets which is a realistic fear given the close proximity of the Aviva Stadium and its many crowd inducing events”.
However, the planning authority granted permission with 14 conditions attached, after Courtney Lounge Bars Ltd made a number of changes to its design.
The council planner’s report concluded that these changes were “greatly appreciated”.
The planners said that, with the alterations, the development balanced visual interest and attention to detail, creating an architectural presence in a volume which does not jar with adjoining structures.
