Ten appeals lodged against Dublin high-rise development

Ten appeals, including one from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, have been lodged with An Bord Pleanala against Dublin Corporation's decision to approve a high-rise development at George's Quay, opposite the Custom House.

The number of appeals is almost unprecedented for any scheme in the city and reflects the widespread concern about the visual impact of the proposed development, which includes a curved glass tower rising to a height of 80 m. The central tower, designed by international architects Skidmore Owings and Merrill for the Cosgrave property group, would be substantially higher than Liberty Hall, which has been Dublin's highest building, at 59 m, since 1965.

According to the DDDA, which had already made its views known to the corporation, the proposed development would be "extremely disruptive" to the low-rise scale of the city centre and would not comply with its own master plan for the Docklands area.

It said proposals based on "imported images" of large-scale and substantial heights had been rejected as "inappropriate and harmful" to the visual image of Dublin in developing the International Financial Services Centre at the Custom House Docks.

Though the IFSC buildings were "unashamedly modern", the DDDA said they were "appropriate to the existing scale of the city" and had been designed to defer to the importance of the Custom House, Dublin's most important late-18th century public building.

The other appellants include An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society, the South East Network, the TLMG Tenants' Association; the Green Party city councillor Mr Ciaran Cuffe and the veteran conservationist Mr Uinseann MacEoin.

The Irish Pension Fund Property Unit Trust, which owns one of the existing office buildings on the quay frontage of the site, has also appealed against the corporation's decision, arguing that its property would be overshadowed by the high-rise blocks.

Mr Brian Hogan, who headed a very successful architectural practice in the 1970s and 1980s designing such large projects as the Setanta Centre, is also one of the appellants because of his concern that Dublin may be stumbling unwittingly into a high-rise future.

An Bord Pleanala has also received submissions from a number of other parties, including the Dublin Transportation Office, the Dublin Civic Group, Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD (FG), Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour) and Shaffrey Associates, architects.

Lancefort Ltd, a company set up by prominent conservationists to fight high-profile planning cases through the courts, if necessary, has also made a submission on the appeal, as has Sinn Fein. Many of the appellants have requested an oral hearing.

The corporation's decision to approve the scheme - which includes two low-rise office buildings, two tall apartment towers and a mix of retail uses - was made against the advice of its chief planning officer, Mr Pat McDonnell.

In a 36-page report, he strongly recommended permission be refused, arguing that the "forthright architectural statement" proposed would breach the city plan's criteria for high buildings and have a "detrimental impact" on the city's skyline.

The city architect, Mr Jim Barrett, took the opposite view in his much briefer report, arguing that the scheme proposed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill had distinct advantages over an earlier office development planned for the site, because of its mix of uses.

His concern was that, if the high-rise scheme was rejected, the developers could still go ahead with the earlier plan, which was given a 10-year permission in 1990. It would consist solely of offices, in a cluster of seven blocks rising to a height of 60 metres.