Concerns for the light-bellied brent goose have helped put paid to large-scale housing development in Dublin that is “desperately needed amid the current housing crisis”.
An Bord Pleanála has refused permission for 330 apartments, 60 assisted living units and retail units at the site of the former Cadbury’s pitch and putt course at Oscar Traynor Road, in Coolock.
The large-scale residential development scheme proposed by OTR Development Company comprised six blocks ranging from two to nine storeys in height on a site bounded to the east by the Cadbury’s (Mondelez Europe) factory, to the north by the former Chiver’s Jam factory and to the west by the Northside Retail Park.
The refusal of the scheme by the appeals board upholds a decision earlier this year by Dublin City Council, which was also based on concerns for the geese.
In his 74-page report, board inspector Colin McBride said the applicant has failed to demonstrate that the proposed development would not have significant effects on the geese beyond reasonable scientific doubt.
As a result, the board said it was not satisfied the development, individually or in combination with other plans and projects, would not adversely affect the integrity of European conservation sites, namely the North Bull Island Special Protection Area (SPA), South Dublin Bay and river Tolka SPA and the Baldoyle Bay SPA.
Tom Phillips + Associates, a consultant to OTR, had argued the development would not have a negative effect on Dublin Bay light-bellied brent goose population.
Director John Gannon said four years of site specific survey data confirmed that the Cadbury site was no longer used by the geese and there was no evidence that the geese had been adversely affected.
Mr Gannon said it was accepted that there was an abundance of foraging sites in the Dublin Bay catchment area, with no evidence that the goose population was not healthy, having grown by 230 per cent over the last 23 years.
The Tom Phillips executive cited another report noting Dublin Bay’s light-bellied brent goose population stands at 7,000 birds “and the trend is stable which is a position accepted by Dublin City Council”.
He stressed that the homes in the proposed development were “desperately needed amid the current housing crisis”.
Aside from concern over the geese, the appeals board also found the scheme constitutes a material contravention of the mixed-use zoning for the site and would not provide a suitable level of amenity for some prospective residents.
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