€500m scheme at Heuston gets green light

An Bord Pleanála has ruled in favour of a 10-year €500 million development on a site opposite Heuston Station which is jointly owned by Eircom and the OPW.

The board's decision goes against the recommendation of its own inspector to refuse planning permission.

The plan for the 9.5-acre site at the junction St John's Road and Military Road is for over 250 apartments, offices, a hotel and conference centre, restaurants, childcare facilities, shops, and a museum and art gallery which will be given over to the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

The decision may come as a blow to the parties which appealed the original planning permission granted by Dublin City Council - these include South West Inner City Network and Peter Keenahan, an architect based in Kilmainham.

In its condition of planning permission, An Bord Pleanála has stipulated that two of the proposed blocks be omitted - one 12-storey and one nine-storey - as well as apartments on the ground floor of three blocks. Seven buildings fronting Military Road will have to be redesigned so they can be set back further from the road.

The South West Inner City Network had challenged the proposal because it said that, while the site is touted as part of the Heuston Gateway Framework Strategy, it had never formally been debated, approved or voted on by Dublin City Council.

It questioned whether the mixed development was the most efficient use of public lands when there are 6,500 people on the housing list and said it would have a negative impact on the formal gardens of the Royal Hospital, and that it could create a glut of office space.

Peter Keenahan said that, while he supports the concept of urban regeneration around the Heuston Station area, the bus and car-parking arrangements at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham would compromise the integrity of the building and endanger public safety.

He contended that there was nothing about the design and planning of the blocks to suggest they would create a new and exciting urban quarter and they would have massive impact on the outlook from the walled garden and north terrace of the Royal Hospital.

However, An Bord Pleanála decided the development was appropriate land use at this location, and would be acceptable in terms of urban design and its impact on nearby protected structures.

It said that, in deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation, the board considered that, subject to modification, the scale and design was generally acceptable, and that traffic-related issues have been reasonably addressed.