The restoration of Dun Leary House and the construction of almost 90 apartments in its grounds has been approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála, bringing to an end one the most contentious and long-running planning sagas in the Dún Laoghaire area.
A distinctive yellow-brick Victorian building, Dun Leary House sits on an elevated corner site on Dun Leary Hill overlooking Dún Laoghaire harbour close to the West Pier. County councillors voted in 2021 to add the house to the Record of Protected Structures and agreed to include a specific provision in the 2022-2028 county development plan for its “rehabilitation and suitable reuse”.
The house dates from the 1870s and was built for the original owner of the adjoining coal yard, which has been earmarked for redevelopment for more than 20 years. In 2003 permission was granted for a scheme of offices, shops, a leisure centre and apartment complex in the Tedcastles Coal Yard, which included the demolition of Dun Leary House. However, the scheme never went ahead.
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In November 2021 Ted Living Ltd applied for a strategic housing development (SHD) of 146 build-to-rent apartments surrounding, and on top of, Dun Leary House. The plans involved the removal of the roof of the house and the construction of three additional storeys of apartments, retaining the rest of the house below.
Under the SHD system, which was discontinued at the end of 2021, applications for large-scale residential developments were made directly to An Bord Pleanála, the coimisiún’s predecessor, bypassing the local authority planning system with the aim of accelerating the delivery of housing. The board had a statutory mandate to issue decisions within 16 weeks. In the end it took 138 weeks for it to refuse permission, making it the longest-running SHD case ever determined by the board.
[ Longest running Dublin strategic housing development case refused permissionOpens in new window ]
The new scheme, granted permission in recent days, permits the construction of 87 apartments in two blocks up to eight storeys high, and the refurbishment of Dun Leary House as a four-bedroom home. Planning consultants for the developer Brock McClure said Dun Leary House was the “focal point and main consideration within the overall scheme”. The new blocks would be detached and set back from Dun Leary House. “This is a significant departure from and improvement on the previous application,” the consultants said.
Independent Senator Victor Boyhan, who had campaigned for the protection of the house, said he welcomed the decision. “It was a long campaign with many setbacks and delays – the house has been saved and will be central to the development of the site.”
The new scheme would ensure “an appropriate level of new homes” would be built on the site, he said.
