An Bord Pleanála has given the thumbs down to phase one of a massive commercial and residential development by Everglade Ltd at Balgaddy town centre in south county Dublin.
Everglade attempted to get planning permission from An Bord Pleanála after South Dublin County Council refused permission for the venture. The development was the subject of an oral hearing by the board in July.
Everglade were looking to build 557 residential units, 641sq m (6,900sq ft) of offices, 2,555sq m (27,500sq ft) of retail space, a 10-screen cineplex and family leisure centre, a commercial gym, bar and restaurant, a 252-bed hotel, multi-use community building, crèches, underground car-parking and a 20-storey hotel (which had an alternative design of 11 storeys).
An Bord Pleanála said the development has an "unsatisfactory hierarchy of streets and public and semi-private space, a poor level of pedestrian and residential amenity, excessive dead frontage" and residential blocks on "an excessive scale".
It also said that the proposal has unsatisfactory pedestrian access routes, overlooked a semi-private area and had an unduly monolithic appearance.
