Substantial works have been carried out on a €50 million convention centre at the Citywest Hotel complex in Co Dublin despite the fact that its planning permission is under appeal by An Taisce. Frank McDonald, Environment Editor, reports.
The convention centre, which would seat nearly 6,000 people, is being built by Mr Jim Mansfield, the property tycoon who developed the Citywest Hotel and Leisure Centre in Saggart largely on foot of retrospective permissions.
The existing complex already includes a hotel with more than 400 bedrooms, two 18-hole golf courses and conference facilities with seating for 4,000 - used both by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for their ardfheiseanna.
Mr Mansfield sees his latest development as fulfilling the need for a National Conference Centre. By going ahead, he is also stealing a march on rival bidders for the tender advertised by the Government last June.
South Dublin County Council decided to grant planning permission for the Citywest scheme on November 10th last in the face of objections from the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO).
The NRA, which wants to curtail frontage development on national routes, said it "would object to the proposal as it is not clear ... where the proposed access is and that it will have no negative impact" on the nearby N7.
The DTO said it would not support the Citywest development as it believed that conference centre facilities would be better located in a city centre area, in close proximity to existing or future major public transport infrastructure.
The county council's roads department noted that the current access road serving the complex was "quite narrow with sharp bends" and said it was "not convinced that the development can operate without causing major congestion". Noting that the site lay within an area zoned for "open space and recreational amenities", the planning report said "no further significant development" should take place there "other than small-scale additions to existing buildings".
Nonetheless, a decision was made to grant planning permission. Immediately after it was issued, and without waiting for the four-week appeal period to expire, work got under way on the construction of the convention centre.
On December 8th, An Taisce lodged an appeal and this was accepted by An Bord Pleanála on the basis that the county council had failed to notify the trust, as a "prescribed body" under the Planning Act, of the original application.
Among the main grounds of appeal are the alleged failure to address archaeological issues posed by the development of a site which encompasses Tassaggart House and Tower, a recorded monument with protected status.
Other grounds include adverse impact on the landscape of the area, inadequate architectural and design quality, inadequate consideration by the county council and the traffic implications of an "excessively car-dependent development".
When work on the site continued, including the erection of a large steel structure which would form the skeleton for the convention centre, the county council served an enforcement order on Mr Mansfield's company, HSS Ltd.
Mr Frank Kavanagh, the former South Dublin county manager who acts as a planning consultant to Mr Mansfield, said his client was "quite well aware of the element of risk in proceeding based on a decision to grant permission.
"All I know is that he got a decision to grant and An Taisce lodged an appeal at the last minute," Mr Kavanagh said. Asked if the works carried out so far were in breach of the planning laws, he replied: "Technically, that's correct". He said Mr Mansfield was currently on holidays in the US and could not be contacted. Just before Christmas, An Bord Pleanála refused permission for a major expansion of Weston Aerodrome, near Lucan, which he also owns.