A redrawing of conservation boundaries in Foxrock means that Foxrock Golf Club could lose its conservation area status.
The golf club, which is the subject of a €400 million offer from developers, currently has a conservation area status along with other tracts of the leafy south Dublin village.
However, under a redrawing of conservation areas in the village proposed by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the golf club and other outlying areas could lose their conservation status.
The council has unveiled plans to replace the current conservation area with a smaller architectural conservation area focusing on the village itself and Westminister, Torquay and Brighton roads, and Kerrymount Avenue.
The proposed architectural conservation area is more than 50 per cent smaller than what is currently protected under conservation area status.
Areas such as the golf club lands and Knocksinna, previously included in the conservation area, are to be dropped. The new architectural conservation area will also cover a site of 2.8 acres purchased by property developer David Arnold for €11 million last year. It is believed that Arnold is hoping to develop a new village centre on the site.
This new status affords much more protection and, unlike the current status, it has a legal, statutory basis in planning law, making it more difficult for developers to secure planning for high-rise and high-density schemes in the village.
The council's plans were presented at a public meeting attended by over 100 residents and local representatives last week.
The proposals have been broadly welcomed by most residents. However, some concerns have been expressed about the added responsibilities of maintaining properties in the protected areas.
The exclusion of the golf club lands and other sensitive parts of the village from the new architecture conservation area were also a cause for concern, according to Paddy McMahon of the Foxrock Area Development Ltd.
The draft architectural conservation area plan is now on public consultation and submissions will be accepted until June 12th. It will be presented to councillors in July.
Green Party councillors Tom Kivlehan said it is important that the character of Foxrock, one of the finest examples of an Arcadian suburb in Ireland, is protected.
Suggestions from residents that architectural conservation area and conservation area status could work side-by-side, should be explored by the council, he said.
