PLANNING:A PROPOSAL to restore the tea rooms at White Cottages on Killiney beach in south Co Dublin to their original state has been submitted to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

The developers looking to redevelop the tea rooms – Declan O’Regan, Kieran Tarbett, and Ross Cahill O’Brien – say they intend to retain the character of the original cluster of buildings and reinstate its previous use as a tea rooms with five chalets which would be rented by artists.

They envisage that the tea rooms will take up the same footprint as the original café and will act as a gallery, exhibition space and a venue for occasional dances. Declan O’Regan bought the tea rooms in 2001 as a going concern.

U2’s Bono, who lives nearby, has said he has no problem with a residential development but has told the developer through his agents that he doesn’t want to see a bar “or place that could turn into a bar” incorporated into the scheme which could cause noise and nuisance at night.

The original chalets were intended to be let to holiday makers but were ultimately let to staff at the former Killiney Court hotel.

It is proposed to renovate the two existing stone dwellings into small two-bedroom homes and incorporate a shop and office at beach level for deck chair hire.

Lockers, boat hire, showers and a standing area for use by the public are also part of the proposal. They also want to upgrade the access road and build an extended boardwalk for pedestrians.

A letter from Cahill O’Brien Associates Ltd to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recounts how in 2004, when Mr O’Regan was in the process of refurbishing the original property, he went on holidays and “in a very short time, and over a number of fires, the premises was completely burned to the ground.

“The council ordered that the site was cleared and fenced off. Mr O’Regan was heart broken and could not visit the site.”

He subsequently sold 75 per cent of the site to Ross Cahill O’Brien and Kieran Tarbett.

They originally intended to build a boutique hotel on the site “something like one would see in Portofino on the Italian Riviera”, says Cahill O’Brien’s letter to the council.

But there was local objection and the planning application was declared invalid on a technicality which gave the applicants “an opportunity to review the situation”.

They say they applied for two dwellings to be retained as part of the development because, with a remote location and no immediate neighbours, the building might be vulnerable to arson or vandalism.