The owner of Donnybrook pub, McCloskey’s, is appealing the refusal by Dublin City Council to sanction an awning over its beer garden.
The council last month refused a planning application seeking retention of the 136 square metre retractable barrel roofed awning which covers the entire rear garden area of the recently reopened pub on Morehampton Road.
It ruled that the plan gave rise to an unacceptable level of disturbance for the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity, in particular noise disturbance to nearby residential units.
The proposal by pub operator, Tagatoni Ltd, would devalue property in the vicinity, would create an undesirable precedent for similar type development and would therefore be contrary to the current city development plan, it concluded.
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The council’s planning report noted that the structure covers the entire rear garden of the property, greatly increasing the size of the pub on site and said the proposal for retention “is excessive”.
This is the second tie McCloskey’s has been refused plans for an awning in its beer garden. Last year, an application by Tagatoni for erection of a part-retractable awning/covered area over rear garden area to create a new seating area was also turned down.
Conservation architect Garrett O’Neill, of Cathal O’Neill + Company, argued for the applicant that there was no discernible visual effect on neighbouring properties. The crown of the barrel awning was, he said, at a lower level that the boundary wall to the northwest, and is dwarfed by the side wall of the rear of Donnybrook Fair to the east and the two-storey office building to the southwest.
The only possible effect on neighbouring residents and occupiers might be one of disturbance caused by noise, Mr O’Neill said, but he argued that whatever noise may currently emanate from the premises is part of an established use.
He said the awning could only reduce sound, contending that “the proposal improves an existing situation”.
Residents Sheila and Paul Fahey, who live in neighbouring Marlborough Road, in a submission to the council said the awning has been erected without appropriate planning consent and that the development has had a significant impact on neighbouring residents, particularly through noise at unsociable hours.
