Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has rejected Iput plc's €250 million plan for its latest phase of The Park mixed-use scheme for Carrickmines in south Dublin.
The Quad Three scheme put forward by Iput was to support 7,000 jobs and was comprised of 440 residential units, 31,082sq m of offices, and 21,041sq m of community, retail and leisure facilities, including two supermarkets.
The 440 planned residential units were to include 308 build-to-rent apartments across four blocks, including one reaching to 11 storeys in height.
An EY assessment of the scheme lodged with the application said that during construction the project was expected to support up to 2,770 jobs over 3½ years, with the delivery of commercial office and retail space supporting up to 4,000 jobs.
The council refused planning permission after concluding that due to the significant proportion of residential use proposed within the overall scheme, a satisfactory balance of uses would not be achieved for the site, which is primarily zoned for economic development.
The council pointed out that there is a limited quantum of undeveloped zoned economic development and employment lands available within the county, and therefore the proposed scheme would undermine the county development plan, which seeks to ensure that sufficient serviced lands continue to be available for employment generation.
Detrimental impact
The council also found that the proposed layout and phasing of the scheme, comprising standalone residential blocks, further emphasises its overtly residential prominence. It concluded that the scheme, due to its scale, height and massing, fails to have regard to its surrounding context and would have a detrimental impact on the character of the surrounding area.
The scheme did not face any objections.
An Iput spokesman said on Wednesday: “Our ambition at Carrickmines is to create a neighbourhood scheme that will benefit all in the surrounding community. We are a long-term investor and are confident of the benefits that the scheme will bring to the Carrickmines community and the wider south Dublin area.”
When asked if the company planned to appeal the issue to An Bord Pleanála, the spokesman said Iput was reviewing the decision and the feedback on the proposal.
The site already has planning permission from 2019 for a neighbourhood centre and 130 residential units, but the new scheme is substantially larger, with 80 per cent more office space planned and more than three times the number of residential units.
