Fingal County Council has given the go-ahead for a 348-unit apartment scheme as part of a mixed-use development in Blanchardstown.
The scheme by the BNY Mellon-owned Blanche Retail Nominees Ltd includes six apartment blocks ranging up to 13 storeys in height on a site that is currently used for car parking beside Blanchardstown library.
The scheme also includes five commercial units and community facilities, along with the extension of an existing multi-storey car park from four to six levels to facilitate the development.
The original apartment scheme was made up of 44 studios, 132 one-bed apartments, 155 two-bed apartments and 21 three-bed apartments before the council ordered the omission of four units.
The council has granted planning permission after concluding that the O’Mahony Pike-designed scheme would help consolidate Blanchardstown town centre and provide residential development close to existing services and facilities.
The planning report which recommended that planning permission be granted said the scheme would provide a satisfactory standard of residential amenity and would not unduly impact on the amenities of the area.
Mary Rose O’Shea, on behalf of a TGI Friday firm and a separate Leisureplex business at Blanchardstown, lodged two separate third-party, one-page submissions with the council advising that the companies she was representing were making the observations “thereby reserving our rights to make an objection to the planning decision on the project”.
Planning documents lodged with the application said the construction of the mixed-use scheme will involve the direct creation of up to 450 jobs over a 24- to 30-month period and an additional 50 jobs.
John Spain, the planning consultant on the project, said the proposed heights of the apartment blocks were “considered to be justified in the context of national planning policy and specifically the urban development and building height guidelines which seek to increase building heights and densities in our towns and cities”.
Mr Spain said the “proposed residential-led development will deliver a high-quality scheme of an appropriate scale and density which is sensitive to existing surrounding context and development potential of adjacent lands”.
Mr Spain said the scheme would “optimise the use of the site and ensure a sustainable development at an appropriate location in close proximity to a range of services and public transport facilities”.
