An Bord Pleanala approves scaled-back Glenageary development

An Bord Pleanála has given approval for a scaled-down version of a mixed-use scheme Keith Craddock’s Redrock was proposing for Glenageary in south Dublin.

Mr Craddock’s firm had lodged plans for 138 apartments units in blocks up to seven storeys high along with shops and other businesses on the ground floor, but the appeals board has reduced the scale of the proposal by almost a third. It has granted permission for 95 units and cut the height to five storeys.

The appeals board ruled that the scheme for a site at the junction of Sallynoggin Road and Glenageary Avenue, and Glenageary Roundabout in south Dublin, would be an acceptable mix and quantum of commercial and residential development.

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council granted permission for the scheme last December. The case came before the board after four third-party appeals were lodged, including one by the Bellevue, Glenageary and Rochestown Residents Association

In granting planning permission last December, the council noted that while the development exceeded the maximum height specified in the County Development Plan, it concluded that the Sallynoggin street scape could accommodate taller buildings.

One of the appellants, Nicola Coleman, on Tuesday welcomed what she described as “the significant reductions to the scale and density” of the scheme.

Ms Coleman said that the council grant “flew in the face of democracy and caused alarm right across the community, so we decided to mount a collective appeal against the council’s decision”.

She said more than 1,600 people had signed a petition opposing the development “and a fundraiser financed the hiring of a professional planning consultant to represent us at the appeal”.

Ms Coleman said that from the outset people were “horrified” by the size and scale of Red Rocks proposals, which originally sought to locate a nine-storey block in a neighbourhood of small single-storey cottages and modest two-storey family homes.

She said: “The fact that overall height and density has been reduced by a third is a relief. However we have eight weeks to fully consider the implications of the board decision and we are not yet closing the door on other options.”

Ms Coleman said: “Our community fought hard to be heard in a system that favours developer led planning and prioritises investors interests over the community.”