The owner of Clontarf Baths has been refused planning permission by An Bord Pleanála to turn it into a restaurant, tearooms, gourmet food store and exhibition complex.

Although the open-air sea bathing facility has been lying derelict since it closed some years ago, An Bord Pleanála said that it is a "sensitive site" adjacent to a Special Protection Area (SPA) and along a prominent stretch of promenade with high visual and recreational amenity. (The site is located along the seafront south of the wooden bridge access to Bull Island.)

Abbeybeg Ltd - headed by former Olympic swimmer Stephen Cullen (brother of hotelier and publican, David Cullen) - bought the 5.5-acre coastal site in 1997. He was granted permission for the two-storey restaurant and exhibition complex by Dublin City Council in May but this was subsequently appealed by three parties - Peter Parkin and others, the Clontarf Residents Association and Dublin Bay Watch Ltd.

Among the grounds of the appeal were that it would be an eyesore and disturb an area of natural beauty; that a commercial development would alter the neighbourhood environment and attract anti-social behaviour; the essential character of the baths; and that it has inadequate car-parking provision that would lead to overspill onto Clontarf Road.

Dublin Bay Watch Ltd believed it would have a devastating effect on the adjacent SPA and that the baths should be retained and developed for water activities.

An Bord Pleanála ruled that the nature, scale, intensity and height of the proposed development at this prominent location on the seaward side of the promenade would detract from the character and the amenities of the area.

Three years ago An Bord Pleanála refused Abbeybeg Ltd planning permission for a scheme on the baths site on similar grounds.