Permission granted for a 12-storey residential tower in Stillorgan will make a nonsense of an area action plan for Stillorgan which is being prepared by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council at the moment, according to An Taisce and local resident groups.
A total of eight groups have lodged appeals against the council's decision to give Treasury Holdings approval for a major residential development at the former Blake's site, home to Bondi Beach nightclub, in Stillorgan.
Calls have also been made for an oral hearing on the issue. The scheme will involve the demolition of all existing structures on the landmark site to make way for over 200 apartments and a pedestrian bridge across the Stillorgan bypass (N11).
The scale and the height of the proposed development are inappropriate, according An Taisce in its submission to An Bord Pleanála. The fact that an area action plan is still being prepared by the council means that any large development, such as this or the plans for a 15-storey block on the site of the Stillorgan Bowl Leisureplex, will make a nonsense of the plan, the group noted.
Stillorgan District Community and Residents Alliance in its appeal to the planning board said it was not opposed to the redevelopment of this site, but rather the high-rise, excessively bulky nature of the proposal.
The proposed single block, rising to 39 metres in height, and ranging from six to 12 storeys will be "oppressive" in nature, is totally inappropriate for a district centre setting and is more in keeping with a city centre or major town centre location, the group stated.
The group has called for an oral hearing to examine the details of this and other sizeable sites in Stillorgan village which are due to be redeveloped - these include the Stillorgan Shopping Centre and the local Leisureplex. Given that the local area action plan is still being prepared it is highly unlikely it will be able to catch up in time "to guide the future redevelopment of Stillorgan district centre", the group stated.
They noted that one of the grounds cited by Dublin City Council when they recently rejected plans for the redevelopment of the Player Wills/Bailey Gibson site in the city centre was that the development was premature pending the implementation of an area action plan.
