Leopardstown residents have come out in force against a proposal to build a 17-storey tower as part of a 405-unit apartment development at Murphystown Road in Co Dublin - with one local describing the high rise scheme as "preposterous" in an area of two-storey housing.
Others are concerned that a massive apartment development will place an unbearable burden upon an already overstretched local infrastructure.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has received over 125 objections in response to the planning application by Glencairn Developments for six blocks of apartments ranging in height from five to eight storeys with a 17-storey tower and a crèche on a four-acre site that was part of the old Glencairn lands belonging to Glencairn House, the residence of the British ambassador.
Glencairn Developments, whose directors are Cork developer John Fleming, Michelle Fleming and Noreen Fleming, is also looking to build 639 car-parking spaces in an underground car-park. The site was formerly owned by Galway Developers, John Lally and Bernard Duffy, who sold the site for a reported €25 million. They originally got planning permission for 18,580 sq m (200,000 sq ft) of office space. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council altered the zoning of most of the site to give developers the option of using it for a housing scheme. The softening of the office market led the current owners to go for a residential scheme.
Most of the objections to the scheme came from residents of nearby Leopardstown Heights, Leopardstown Valley and Murphystown Road who say that 600 or more new residents in the area would put intolerable pressure on an already strained local infrastructure.
The height of the "landmark" tower of the development, which is directly in front of Leopardstown Heights, is a major bone of contention with one resident describing it as "visually overpowering" in an area of mostly low rise housing.
"It is the greed of developers and local authorities that has resulted in an explosion of new homes and apartments, with no additional amenities," says the letter of objection.
Another letter said the area has already had to "suffer" the "unsightly box-like structure" of Bewleys Hotel which is visible from Leopardstown Heights estate and that six more high rise blocks would be "unacceptable".
A number of objections refer to an inadequate public transport system, and scant social and shopping amenities and say that traffic congestion is already bad along the Murphystown Road and Leopardstown Road. Leopardstown Heights Residents Association believes that a timetable for the completion of the parallel access road as far as Ballyogan Road should be resolved prior to any approval.
The drilling on the South Eastern Motorway has taken its toll and many say they are not ready for further years of construction. There are also other developments either in planning or under construction in the area, including 250 apartments and a primary school opposite Glencairn Drive.
