Planning&DevelopmentA major redevelopment of the Frascati shopping centre in Blackrock, Co Dublin has been refused planning permission by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council due to the traffic hazard presented by the proposed scheme.
The redevelopment failed to get the green light due, in particular, to the absence of a pedestrian footbridge over the extremely busy N31/Frascati Road.
The company behind the project, Mecca International Ltd, had sought a 50 per cent increase in the centre's gross floor area. It also proposed 65 new apartments, a three-storey car-park, and significant changes in the vehicle access patterns for the centre.
The planning authority noted 36 objections to the development and a later tranche of 17 more, but the key objection was raised by the National Roads Authority, given major alterations to the surrounding link roads.
Planners decided the only safe option was a "segregated pedestrian/mobility impaired and disabled bridge" linking the existing Blackrock and Frascati shopping centres.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council raised 10 key points that required changes by the developers. The council considered the provision of shopper access, segregated from N31/Frascati Road traffic, as "an imperative in terms of pedestrian safety."
Shoppers cross the N31 in significant numbers as they move between the two popular shopping centres. Mecca International had suggested installing a segregated bridge later in the development period but the planners viewed this as "putting the cart before the horse".
A significant traffic risk existed given the "extreme traffic frequency" along the N31 which runs between the two centres. The bridge "should be guaranteed prior to granting any increase to movements on the road or between various shops and shopping centres".
The Frascati centre occupies a prominent position on the west side of the main N31 running southwards through Blackrock. Mecca had requested the demolition of large elements of the existing facade, including the entrance lobby and the boundary wall of the site at Frascati Road.
The centre would have increased in size by 4,581sq m (49,309sq ft) with additional floorspace going into ground, first and second floor levels. This would have brought the total floor space up to more than 13,000sq m (139,931sq ft).
Retail space would have absorbed much of this addition with other facilities, including a licensed restaurant unit, a juice bar, drop-in crèche and new management suite.
The planning application included 65 residential units at second to fifth floor levels, including mainly two-bedroom units of 74-110sq m (797-1,184sq ft) but also one and three-bedroom apartments and four duplex units offering from 135-148sq m (1,453-1,593sq ft). Mecca calculated the residential component of the development at 6,140sq m (66,090sq ft). There would have been 65 car-parking spaces associated with this component.
The company had sought a multi-storey car-park to serve the new retail element of the proposed development, with space at basement, ground, first and roof levels for 539 car-parking spaces.
The application sought significant changes to the roads providing access to the centre. Mecca planned to reconfigure site access off the N31 (Frascati Road) adjacent to George's Avenue, including the closure of the site exit at this location.
It would have changed the traffic light intersection on Frascati Road opposite Rock Hill and adjacent to Rock Road/Mount Merrion Avenue, including a new right turn into the site for southbound traffic on Frascati Road and a new right turning exit for southbound traffic.
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