Contentious plans for the demolition and redevelopment of Deer Park Hotel in Howth will be reviewed by An Coimisiún Pleanála after the High Court returned the issue to commission.
Irish property investment group Tetrarch Capital submitted a planning application in 2022 for a new 142-bedroom hotel on the site of the Deer Park hotel in Howth, which has been closed for a decade.
Under Tetrarch’s plan, the existing building would be demolished and replaced by a four-storey hotel with a rooftop restaurant, as well as a leisure centre and a swimming pool.
A number of local residents’ groups raised concerns around the development’s impact on the environment and the public’s access to the grounds.
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Fingal County Council approved planning permission for the development in 2023, with both WSHI Unlimited, a subsidiary of Tetrarch, and local Green Party councillor David Healy appealing the decision.
The Tetrarch company sought to remove a number of conditions added to the granting of permission, while Healy argued it had not fulfilled sustainability obligations under the Fingal Development Plan and expressed concerns over locals’ access to the property.
After An Coimisiún Pleanála upheld the decision by the local authority, Cllr Healy instigated a judicial review.
He did so on the grounds that the commission “failed to carry out any assessment” of the carbon impact of the proposed development, and that, against planning regulations, he was not given an opportunity to respond to a report submitted to address his appeal of the Fingal County Council decision.
In June, An Coimisiún Pleanála gave notice of its intention not to oppose the judicial review citing its failure to circulate submissions to Cllr Healy or to afford him the chance to respond.
The granting of permission was thus annulled by the High Court which sent the decision back to An Coimisiún Pleanála to re-adjudicate their decision, which is now due in January 2026.
Tetrarch acquired the nearly 500 acre Howth property in 2018, from the Gaisford-St Lawrence family who had owned the estate for more than 840 years.
The estate includes two public golf courses and the hotel which shut to guests in April 2014 but currently houses Ukrainian refugees. It has a capacity of 200 beds.
Tetrarch plans to redevelop and reopen the Deer Park Hotel as a luxury property, and to transform the golf courses. It previously owned the Mount Juliet estate in Co Kilkenny.
