Spa resort near Lamb Doyle's pub appealed

An Taisce is opposing a planning permission to build a hotel and spa in the foothills of the Dublin mountains.

In its appeal to An Bord Pleanála, An Taisce said the proposed location for the resort by hotelier Tom Moran's Caspian Country Investments is "wrong" and the development fails to meet the requirements of a "High Amenity Zone".

The appeal comes on foot of planning permission granted by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for the venture, called Sandyford Spa Resort.

Located behind Lamb Doyle's pub, off the Blackglen Road on a 55-acre site formerly known as Jennings lands, the proposal is for 14 spa treatment rooms, hydrotherapy facilities, a 25-metre pool, a recreational pool, a 250-bedroom hotel, 35 apart-hotel suites, a conference and banqueting centre, restaurant, café, bars, seven meeting rooms and 443 car-parking spaces.

It will involve the demolition of a derelict farmhouse and outbuildings.

An Taisce has concerns over the visual impact of the development, its encroachment on the Dublin mountains and its effect of traffic in the area.

It also believes that no development should be allowed on the mountain side of the zoning border because, once permitted, it would set a precedent and encourage other developers to take advantage of scenic sites.

It pointed out that this is a second attempt by Caspian Country Investments to secure planning permission for this project on these lands, "the first being withdrawn following the public reaction to the size and form of the proposal in the foothills landscape. The architectural design of the buildings does not impress in this location but, even with an impressive design, good architecture is no substitute for bad planning."

Another appellant, Ruth Blackith, said the hill on the south-west side of Woodside and Blackglen roads should be preserved as a foothill of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains and no further development should be allowed.

Tom Moran is best known as the owner of the Red Cow complex on the Naas Road. He also owns hotels in Cork and Dublin.

Last year he sold off a number of pubs, including the Playwright in Blackrock and The Baroque in Clondalkin.