Major Kilcock scheme appealed:Emmet Stagg TD has appealed a scheme by Seán Dunne's Mountbrook Property Group for a 57,000sq m (613,542sq ft) residential, retail and commercial development at the Zed Candy factory site on Church Street, Kilcock, Co Kildare.
In his letter to An Bord Pleanála, which was co-signed by Chris Rowland, he said the redevelopment of the site is welcome but the mass and scale would negatively dominate the village centre of Kilcock for many years to come.
Kildare County Council gave the green light to the project which is seven storeys high and includes a 100,000sq m (1.076 million sq ft) shopping centre, 1,670sq m (17,976sq ft) of offices, a crèche, medical centre, 180 apartments in five blocks and 500sq m (5,382sq ft) of space for community uses, yet to be determined by the council. There will be 28 retail units, restaurants, cafés and a foodcourt.
Other appellants to the scheme include Abbeyfield Residents Association and Kilcock and District Community Council. Abbeyfield Residents Association says that by providing "15 times more retail space" than the whole of Kilcock town centre, the development constitutes the relocation of Kilcock's town centre. It says the proposal would have a negative impact on Church Street and the character of the Royal Canal. Kilcock and Districts' Community Council says the high number of apartments in the proposal "contravenes the notion of sustainable development ."
Mountbrook, which acquired the site following a tender process in 2006, reckons the project will be "a badly needed catalyst for development" in the town.
Dun Laoghaire schemes rejected
Noel Smyth's Wexele Ltd has been refused planning permission by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for two developments , one which encompasses the seafront car park of St Michael's Hospital at Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin and the other on a site behind at Eblan Avenue.
On Crofton Road he was looking to build 80 apartments and two retail units on 3.2 hectares rising to eight storeys over double basement. But the planner's report recommended refusal on the grounds that it would be built on a car-park available for use by St Michael's Hospital, which would "weaken its long term viability and functioning". It also said the development would be visually dominant and place an unreasonable burden on the development potential of the hospital. The council also gave him the thumbs down to redevelop the site of a former nurses home at Eblana Avenue and extend it to accommodate a Sisters of Mercy Community facility, offices, prayer room, and add a floor at sixth floor level with 31 apartments. The council ruled the massing and scale would be inappropriate in the context of Dún Laoghaire town centre.
