Elm Park golf club in Dublin 4 is to appeal a decision by Dublin City Council to grant planning permission for a multi-million euro high-density development adjacent to the golf course.
The council decided to grant planning permission for the development on December 17th.
The club, which lodged an official objection to the scheme, maintains that the height of parts of the development will be out of character with the surrounding environment. It claims that two of the planned tower blocks in the scheme will be so close to its land that they will overshadow large sections of the course.
The club says it will take its fight to An Bord Pleanála.
The development is to include six eight-storey buildings, two of which will contain apartments. Elm Park is objecting to these two buildings, which are to run along its boundary wall and, at one point, will be nine metres from its land.
An Elm Park spokesman said the club wanted the height of these blocks reduced. The club was also concerned that the scheme would upset the area's natural drainage system, he said.
The other eight-storey buildings are to include a hotel and over 28,000 square metres of office space. However, Dublin City Council has said the hotel should be reduced by one storey, to seven. The remaining parts of the scheme have been approved. A five-storey, 12,000 square metre private hospital is also included in the plans. An Taisce and a number of local residents' groups have also objected to the scheme.
The 14.5-acre site of the development is opposite the Jacobs International office block on Merrion Road. It was sold by the Sisters of Charity at Merrion Road in 2001 for £36 million (€45.7 million) to a consortium headed by Kerry-based property developer Mr Jerry O'Reilly.
This was the highest price achieved for a development site in Dublin. It was billed at the time as one of the last and most significant stretches of land to come on the market in Dublin 4 for decades.
The scheme's agents, Spain Courtney Doyle, say the project should not be scuppered by "a few hundred people" who are members of an exclusive club.
The company said the development would be part of the community and would provide employment and facilities for local people.
In its ruling on the planning permission, Dublin City Council stipulated a number of conditions which the developers, Radora Developments, must adhere to.
The conditions include restrictions on when heavy machinery can operate at the site during the construction phase. It also said efforts should be made to safeguard a habitat of bats at the site.
