DÚN LAOGHAIRE-Rathdown County Council has rejected plans by solicitor Noel Smyth to build a 440sq m (4,736sq ft) house in a scenic area on Dalkey Hill.
Council planners refused planning permission for the house on five grounds.
The planners said it would appear “visually obtrusive and overbearing” and would therefore be contrary to proper planning in the area.
They also declared the application invalid because a walkers’ right of way which Mr Smyth planned to use for vehicular access is owned by the council and he had failed to obtain written consent from it.
They argued that he had therefore failed to demonstrate sufficient legal interest to carry out the development.
The council decision stated: “The public right of way is within land which is owned by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for which consent in making this planning application has not been obtained from the council.”
Mr Smyth claims he owns the right of way off Torca Road, though he said he had no plans to restrict access to it.
The council ruled that the proposed development would damage, obstruct or interfere with people’s use of the right of way and was therefore contrary to proper planning.
It also said Mr Smyth’s plan to use the right of way for vehicular access would create a hazard for pedestrians.
Mr Smyth planned to demolish an existing outbuilding to make way for the three-bed De Blacam Meagher-designed house but the council ruled that because the new structure was far greater than the ruin it was to replace the development would result in an additional dwelling and was therefore contrary to proper planning.
More than 30 community organisations and local residents objected to the proposal for the house.
One claimed the proposal amounted to building a house in a park using the public footpath for vehicular access.
