Planning permission refused for docklands development

Permission has been refused by An Bord Pleanala for yet another high-rise development in the docklands area of Dublin on the grounds of excessive height and other issues.

In its second refusal in days, the appeals board turned down plans by Zoe Developments to build 655 apartments, a major hotel and leisure centre and over 8,000 square metres of offices on an eight-acre site at Barrow Street.

The site, formerly owned by the Dublin Gas Company, includes a listed Victorian gasholder in which Zoe's architects, O'Mahony Pike, planned to install a circular nine-storey apartment block laid out around an internal landscaped courtyard.

Dublin Corporation's decision to approve the scheme was appealed by Iarnrod Eireann, which feared the DART line could be destabilised by changes in groundwater levels brought about by the excavation and development of the site.

The decision, made last September, was also appealed by the Shelbourne Park Residents' Association, which was primarily concerned about issues of height and traffic, as well as by Mr Tom Crilly, a local Workers' Party representative.

In its ruling on the appeal, An Bord Pleanala said it was not satisfied the measures proposed by Zoe to decontaminate the soil and groundwater on the site were adequate and would not constitute "an unacceptable risk to public health".

The board also considered that the off-street car-parking provision of 676 spaces would be inadequate to cater for the hotel and leisure centre. The resulting spill-over of cars on to streets in the vicinity would seriously injure residential amenities, it said.

The third reason given for refusing permission was that the height of a proposed 10-storey block would `significantly exceed the height of nearby housing and would therefore be contrary to proper planning and development.

The decision, which represents a major setback for Dublin's most prolific developer of inner-city apartment blocks, closely follows a ruling against a high-rise scheme by Morrison Homes for a site at Thorncastle Street, including a 13-storey tower.