Publican Charlie Chawke’s plan for an eight-storey €186 million apartment scheme on the site of the Goat Bar and Grill in the Dublin suburb of Goatstown has suffered a setback.
In a 70-page report, the chief executive of Dún Laoghaire County Council has recommended to An Bord Pleanála that planning permission for the 299-unit apartment scheme should be refused.
The proposed development on a 4.6-acre site is comprised of four apartment blocks ranging from five to eight storeys in height. The Goat Bar and Grill is also being retained.
The plan faced widespread local opposition, with 148 submissions lodged with the planning board, including observations from several local residents’ associations.
One of those to make a submission was Minister for Tourism and Culture and local Green TD Catherine Martin, who told the appeals board that she had "concerns in relation to this development".
In an interview earlier this month, Mr Chawke said: “I really believe in this development and it would be a lovely legacy to leave to Goatstown and that is what I would like to do.”
However, the report recommended that the scheme be refused planning permission across six separate headings.
The report said that, while the development of an underutilised brownfield site was welcome, there were“serious concerns” over the height and massing of the proposed scheme.
The local area plan states that buildings for the site should not be more than four storeys high, and Mr Chawke's Charjon Investments Ltd is proposing double that height.
Visually obtrusive
The council report said that the scheme “appears visually obtrusive and incongruous on the streetscape and visually overbearing”.
The local authority also argued that the height and massing of the scheme would adversely affect the sunlight and daylight for residents of a number of the apartment units, resulting in an inadequate level of amenity for future residents.
It also pointed out the the proposed development materially contravened the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan, would significantly affect existing residential amenity and would depreciate the value of properties at Drummartin Terrace.
The council has also recommended that the scheme be refused as it fails to provide the appropriate quantum and mix of residential uses as required by the neighbourhood centre zoning, “and as such would not contribute towards the creation of a community with proximate retail and services of an appropriate scale”.
Mr Chawke’s company has put an indicative price tag of €16.4 million on 30 apartments it is proposing to sell to Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to comply with social housing requirements.
The company is planning to sell 17 one-bedroom and 13 two-bedroom apartments to the council and has put an indicative price range of €408,237-€595,028 on the one-bedroom apartments.
The indicative cost of the two bedroom apartments is €676,169-€768,297.
An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the application in June.
