Dublin City Council is ignoring its own tall buildings policy by granting permission for high-rise schemes in sensitive city centre areas, according to An Taisce.
The council has granted permission for a number of high-rise developments outside areas designated for tall buildings, says An Taisce. These decisions have been overturned by An Bord Pleanála, it says.
Dublin City Council's development plan outlines a policy of protecting the skyline of the inner city. This policy is informed by building height criteria set out in the 2000 study Managing intensification and change: a strategy for Dublin building height. This identified the Heuston Station area and the docklands as areas suitable for high buildings, according to An Taisce.
Despite these policies the council has granted permission for six tall buildings in the last two years, according to Kevin Duff of An Taisce's Dublin City Association.
These schemes are being refused on appeal to An Bord Pleanála if they are not in the identified areas of Heuston Station and the docklands, he adds.
Most recently, An Bord Pleanála overturned a grant of permission for a 16-storey development on the north side of Thomas Street, Dublin 8, proposed by developer P Elliot.
The board refused permission because the scheme would contravene the council's policy of protecting the skyline of the inner city.
Other examples of where the planning board has overturned the council's grant of approval for tall buildings include a 13-storey apartment block at the Tivoli Theatre and Linham Ltd's proposal for a 12-storey residential scheme at School Street, also in Dublin 8.
"These examples definitively show that Dublin City Council is not complying with its own tall buildings policy," according to Kevin Duff.
A number of other cases where the council has ignored its own policies are before the planning authority. These include a 13-storey building at Bridgefoot Street in Dublin 9, the Arnotts redevelopment plan which involves a 16-storey element, and a 13-storey development on Merrion Road, Dublin 4.
The environmental charity has called on the council to revise its decision-making policy, saying that An Bord Pleanála and not the council are implementing the council's own policies.
