Business bid trumps councils at the Marsh

LAST week we reported how two Dublin City councils – Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Dublin City Council – made a joint…

LAST week we reported how two Dublin City councils – Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Dublin City Council – made a joint bid for the four-acre site beside Booterstown Marsh, once owned by developer Bernard McNamara and now being sold by receivers RSM Farrell, Grant and Sparks acting on behalf of Nama through Jones Lang La Salle.

However, it is believed that the council’s bid has been trumped by two separate bids from business concerns.

The councils were looking to acquire it because two-thirds of the site is in the administrative area of Dublin City Council, with the remainder in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown .

The site which Bernard McNamara once used as a helicopter landing pad, before An Bord Pleanála ruled he had to stop, is beside the nature reserve, which has EU Special Protection Area conservation status. However our sources tell us that there has been substantial interest in the site and bids are higher than anticipated.

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In 2003, An Bord Pleanála refused McNamaras Ashcastle Developments planning permission for 53 luxury apartments and a public park beside Booterstown Marsh bird sanctuary.

An Taisce, which leases the sanctuary, is appealing to Nama to stop the sale and keep the land in public ownership.