A "burst the bubble campaign" has been set up in Sutton in north Co Dublin to protest against local tennis club plans to erect an "airhall" on the club land close to Sutton Cross.
The airhall - a structure supported by air and a fan system - is envisaged as being up to nine metres in height and would be accompanied by four 12m lighting poles, with three lamps on each pole.
The structure is designed to encompass three tennis courts making them available for use all year round. The club, in its application, said it would erect the structure in October or November each year and take it down in April or May.
However, locals claim the airhall would dwarf single-storey housing in the adjoining Church Road as well as bungalows and houses on Greenfield Road and Howth Road.
Mary Barry, spokeswoman for the campaign, described the structure as "an eyesore that will dominate the skyline in a mature residential area". She added: "The floodlit structure will have a serious impact on all neighbouring houses."
The campaigners have also expressed concerns that the structure may represent a fire hazard and that overflow parking at the club will be lost, as well as the view that hedge screening will be inadequate.
A number of people, including Fine Gael TD Terence Flanagan, have written to the county council expressing their concern and opposition to the project.
However, the club's president, Michael Byrne, said that the proposal had been in the public domain since February 2006, when the club's members decided to advance plans for indoor tennis.
"The ongoing development of tennis in indoor courts is part of the agreed strategy of Tennis Ireland," he said.
