Mespil Flats plan opposed

A recent planning application for 24 apartments at Cherry House - part of the controversial Mespil Flats complex in Ballsbridge…

A recent planning application for 24 apartments at Cherry House - part of the controversial Mespil Flats complex in Ballsbridge, Dublin, has been criticised by residents. The complex was sold privately by Irish Life plc in the early 1990s to a consortium that included a number of prominent political, business and legal figures.

The planning application lodged with Dublin Corporation by "Copse (Cherry House) Ltd" is for the development of the 24 apartments at Cherry House, one of the 12 blocks that comprise the complex.

"If permission is granted it could create a precedent which could lead to further applications, and it would certainly alter the symmetry of the estate," Ms Deirdre Steele, honorary chairwoman of the Mespil Estate Residents Association has said - echoing the response of An Bord Pleanala to a previous application for Cherry House.