Citywest hotel owners oppose new school campus in Saggart

Tetrarch Capital is opposing plans by the Department of Education to construct a new school campus at Citywest in west Dublin.

The owners of the 764-bedroom, four-star Citywest Hotel have lodged an objection against the two-school plan after the department last year failed to respond to an offer from Tetrarch of a free site to locate the school campus adjacent to the proposed school site.

The hotel group repeated its offer of a fully-serviced free site to the department last week as it lodged its objection against the school campus proposal.

The department is planning to construct a post-primary school for 1,000 pupils that will also include a special educational needs unit. The campus will also include a 16 classroom primary school and a two classroom special needs educational unit at Fortunestown Lane in Saggart, Co Dublin.

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Consultants for Tetrarch, Manahan Planners, told South Dublin County Council that if the department took up on Tetrarch’s offer, it could then realise more than €8.5 million from the sale of the site where it intends to secure planning permission.

The objection states: “Our clients’ not unreasonable position is that these significant proceeds could and should then be applied by the Department of Education to fund the development of the new schools required in the local area on the much more suitable site offered by Tetrarch – subject to the necessary zoning and planning.”

Objection

In the objection against the school campus plan, Manahan Planners state that the proposed development would result “in traffic chaos” around the local Luas station.

The objection states that the scheme as proposed would give rise to numerous and potentially dangerous traffic issues for school pupils. A number of local residents have also lodged objections against the plan.

The site currently accommodates two temporary schools with 738 students attending the Citywest Educate Together and Citywest and Saggart Community National School.

Consultants for the Department of Education, Tom Phillips & Associates, state that the educational campus proposed “comprises a sensitively designed and well considered proposal”.

The submission states that “the design has sought to balance the educational requirements of the future users of the campus in line with sustainable transport objectives with the minimisation of any potential impacts on the amenities of adjoining residential properties”.

A submission by the department states that the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board-owned site was selected following an examination of key factors of cost, availability and deliverability.