Permission for 12-storey Phibsborough apartment scheme refused

Dublin City Council has refused planning permission for a 12-storey apartment tower on the site of the former State cinema in Phibsborough.

Garvagh Homes was seeking to demolish the 1950s building that was most recently used as a Des Kelly Carpets showroom and construct 96 apartments comprising 23 studios, 25 one-bed apartments, 47 two-bed units and one three-bedroom apartment for 168 and 169 Phibsborough Road.

The scheme faced strong local opposition, and the council has refused planning permission on the grounds the residential accommodation proposed was below standard.

The council cited what it called “a lack of compliance of a number of units” with requirements set out in the Government’s new apartment guidelines. The council said the lack of compliance included inadequate storage and private amenity space, and a failure to achieve minimum bedroom sizes and widths in a number of units.

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It also also found the development would constitute overdevelopment of the site and likely seriously injure the residential amenities of future residents.

It said the overall scale, height, bulk and massing of the scheme would be visually intrusive and overbearing.

Planners left the door open for revised plans to be submitted for the site which addressed the issues raised. A planner’s report said the principle of a mixed-use development was acceptable and the council would broadly welcome the development of the site as it is currently underutilised and largely vacant.

The proposal attracted 20 submissions, including one from the Connaught Street Residents Association which said the 12-storey height was “excessive with little or no justification”. An Taisce also objected.

Consultants for Garvagh Homes, Manahan Planners, had argued that the height of the proposed development "takes cognisance of the scale, height and proximity of neighbouring properties". They said its design and scale made a positive contribution to the urban neighbourhood.