Residents of an exclusive road in Dublin 4 are sharing a Christmas bonanza estimated at more than €1 million after agreeing to withdraw a planning appeal against a major development.
Although the deal is subject to a confidentiality clause, it is understood that 22 of the residents of Morehampton Terrace have each received payments of €50,000 from the developer, Mr Bryan Cullen.
Others - about 12 - have been paid substantially lesser amounts, and this has led to some friction on the road following the withdrawal of the appeal on December 3rd.
The Morehampton Terrace Residents' Association had appealed against Dublin City Council's decision last May to grant permission for 182 apartments and 14 two-storey houses on a site known as Avila, just to the north.
It objected to the density of the proposed development and the height of the nearest six-storey apartment block, which would be located some 60 metres - nearly 200 feet - from the rear of houses on the road.
Mr Cullen had paid more than €20 million for the three-acre site, which lies behind Sachs Hotel on Morehampton Road. Formerly part of the grounds of a Carmelite monastery, it was seen as a prime development site.
When considering the appeal, An Bord Pleanála formally indicated it might require a reduction of one storey in the height of blocks behind Morehampton Road, to reduce problems of overlooking.
The developer calculated that this would result in the loss of at least 28 and possibly up to 34 of the apartments he was proposing. This would have substantially reduced the profitability of the development.
Negotiations carried out by lawyers representing both sides resulted in an agreement to reduce the height of the block nearest Morehampton Terrace by one floor, which meant omitting just eight of the 182 apartments.
With just days to go before An Bord Pleanála was due to make a decision on the appeal, the association withdrew it.
A separate appeal by residents of Carlisle Avenue was also withdrawn by agreement with the developer.
Under the terms of the agreement with the residents, Mr Cullen will have to reapply to Dublin City Council for a revised planning permission for the scheme, reducing the nearest block by one storey. The residents have undertaken not to appeal against it.
Mr Frank Bannister, chairman of the Morehampton Terrace Residents' Association, declined to confirm that money had changed hands, saying the agreement it had reached with Mr Cullen was subject to a confidentiality clause.
"I am not going to comment on it. If other individuals want to disclose the terms, that's up to them," he told The Irish Times. The developer would only say that he had agreed to reduce the height of a single block by one floor.
This is not the first time that money has changed hands where third-party objectors agree to withdraw appeals against major schemes.
In August 2001 it was revealed that the Leopardstown Heights Residents' Association received £200,000 and other benefits from developers in return for withdrawing an appeal against an office development at Glencairn.