Setback for Neil Jordan in planning row with neighbour

Film director Neil Jordan has had a setback in a planning battle with his neighbour Robin Power over an 11sq m bathing shelter.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has granted permission to Mr Power, for a second time, to retain the shelter at Sorrento Terrace in Dalkey, south Dublin.

There are only eight houses on the “millionaires’ row”. Mr Jordan and his wife Breda Rawn live in numbers 6 and 7 and Mr Power’s house is at number 8.

Mr Power had already secured planning retention for the 3m high bathing area in his garden last year in spite of objections from Mr Jordan, Ms Rawn and An Taisce.

However, that permission was quashed by the High Court in April after Mr Jordan and Ms Rawn made a successful application to have the permission set aside as the council had not notified three prescribed bodies of the application.

Objection

As result, the application came back before the council with Mr Jordan and Ms Rawn making a fresh objection against it last month.

Planning consultant Ann Mulcrone claimed, in the objection, that “the unauthorised development . . . would materially affect the character of the protected structure and would seriously injure the amenities and depreciate the value of property in the vicinity”.

The submission on behalf of Mr Power, which was drafted by consultants RPS, stated that the bathing shelter “is modest in nature, discreetly located at level three of the tiered gardens, is not connected to the house and is also set back from the terraced area.

“At the time, it was considered that the small extension was exempt development.”

Now, the council has concluded that the development to be retained “does not detract from the visual amenity of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current development plan.”