Golf club to oppose major plan for Elm Park development

Elm Park Golf Club in Dublin 4 has vowed to "fight all the way" against a proposed multi-million euro high-density development on one of the area's few remaining greenfield sites, which is adjacent to the golf course.

There have also been objections from residents of Merrion Road and Llandaff Terrace in Dublin 4, and from people living in nearby Dornden Park in Booterstown.

An Taisce has also voiced its concern, saying more effort should be made to preserve demesne lands in the locality.

The 14.5-acre site of the proposed Elmpark development is opposite the Jacobs International office block on Merrion Road. It was sold by the Religious Sisters of Charity at Merrion Road in 2001 for £36 million (€45.7 million) to a consortium headed by Kerry-based property developer Mr Jerry O'Reilly.

It was the highest price achieved for a development site in Dublin. It was billed at the time as one of the last and most significant stretches of land to come on the market in Dublin 4 for decades.

Dublin City Council is currently considering a planning application for the major new development. The application was first lodged in 2001 by Radora Developments, a company with an address on Elgin Road in Donnybrook.

A decision from the council is expected as early as next week.

An exact value has not been put on the development but some of the objectors believe it to be worth in the region of €500 million.

The proposal includes plans for five eight-storey buildings, one of which would contain 315 apartments. It is this block Elm Park Golf Club is objecting to.

The other four eight-storey buildings will include a 168-bedroom hotel and over 28,000 sq metres of office space. A five-storey, 12,000 square metre private hospital is also included in the plans and would be connected to the hotel on the site.

The scheme also includes parking for over 1,300 cars, most of which would be underground, 600 bicycle parking spaces and five electricity substations.

The scheme's agents, Spain Courtney Doyle, said it was hopeful the council would grant planning permission.

A spokesman for the company said the development would enhance the area, bringing both jobs and extra facilities. "This is not going to be something built behind iron gates, it will be very much part of the community."

Elm Park Golf Club was entitled to object but the project should not be scuppered because of "a few hundred people" who were members of an exclusive club, he added.

In a submission to Dublin City Council, An Taisce claims the proposed development will have a detrimental effect on wildlife and fauna in the area and may upset the ecological balance at Booterstown marsh. The marsh is a bird sanctuary and is home to rare fauna found in few parts of Ireland.

Elm Park Golf Club has hired a planning consultant and drainage consultant to assist it in its objections. It has made two lengthy submissions to the council outlining its reasons why the development should not be allowed proceed in its current format.

The club's main objection is that the eight-storey apartment block will overshadow the course and at one point is just nine feet from the boundary wall.

The club is also annoyed that the developers have never been in contact with it and have taken the name Elmpark for the new development without consulting the club. And it believes natural irrigation in the area will be disrupted by the development. "They have never even contacted us once," said a spokesman for the club.

"And we are going to fight this all the way. We will take it to An Bord Pleanála if we have to. We are concerned that it will have an impact on the drainage system because of the fact that a lot of concrete foundations will have to be poured for the higher buildings and much of the car-parking spaces will be underground. So we would ask, where is the rainwater going to go? It is exactly this kind of thing that caused the flooding seen in Sandymount earlier in the year and in other parts of Dublin earlier this month. We really feel this all needs to be looked at again."

Local residents have expressed a range of objections, including concerns regarding the scheme's impact on their privacy.

The Llandaff Terrace Residents' Group says 10 rooms per floor in the apartment block will overlook their homes. In their submission to the council they also say mature tall trees included in the plans by the developer do not exist.

Dornden Park Residents Association's objection to the scheme has been signed by 31 of the park's residents.