The demolition of a landmark gate lodge, kiosk and turnstile of the former Phoenix Park racecourse in Dublin has been condemned by a local Labour Party councillor, Ms Joan Burton.
She said these unlisted Edwardian structures opposite the Phoenix Park's Ashtown gate had been demolished despite an appeal from Duchas, the Heritage Service, to have them preserved in any redevelopment of the racecourse.
Last November Mr John McCullen, superintendent of the Phoenix Park, told Fingal County Council that the preservation and restoration of this group of buildings would greatly enhance the historical character of the area.
Cllr Burton said that if developers could continue to destroy historic features, especially beside the Phoenix Park, which is designated as a national historic landscape, the public could not have confidence in the development process.
"The developers, Flynn and O'Flaherty, and Fingal County Council have serious questions to answer as to how this destruction was allowed to go ahead," she declared.
Cllr Burton also complained that an Edwardian house on the Navan Road frontage of the racecourse site, built for Sir John Arnott, the founder of Arnotts, had been reduced to two storeys, with much of its roof destroyed.
The racecourse, once earmarked for a casino-based leisure scheme, was the subject of a special meeting of the county council on April 3rd to consider Flynn and O'Flaherty's proposals to build 2,500 houses and apartments on the site.
Cllr Burton, a former minister of State, said she would be demanding a special debate at the council's next meeting on a motion calling on the county manager, Mr Willie Soffe, to require the developers to reinstate the demolished buildings.
"This is not the only case where the destruction of important landmark buildings has happened in Fingal in recent times," she said, noting that both Belcamp House and Phibblestown House had been demolished in the past year.
"We simply cannot afford this continuing loss of the county's architectural heritage," she added. The developers could not be contacted over the weekend.
The destruction of the buildings was the result of a "stupid mistake", Fingal County Council admitted on Friday.
Last Wednesday developers demolished the timber-framed former gatehouse and turnstiles, as well as part of a nearby Edwardian house in Castleknock, in contravention of an area plan that recommended the preservation of existing features.
However, the developer, Flynn and O'Flaherty, was within its rights, as a dangerous buildings notice had been issued and the buildings were not protected structures, according to the Fingal county architect, Mr David O'Connor.
"It was a stupid mistake and shouldn't have happened," he said, adding that Flynn and O'Flaherty had given a commitment to "reinstate" the buildings.
Nearby Ashtown House (known locally as the Arnott House), which was built in 1902, was structurally unstable and remedial works were necessary, he said.
