Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to contentious plans for a new 100 bedroom Raglan Townhouse hotel for Baggot Street Upper in Dublin.
In the planning application, Raglan Townhouse Hotel Ltd was seeking planning permission for the hotel at Nos 46, 48 and 52 -54 Baggot Street Upper and at 46, 48, 50 and 52-54 Eastmoreland Lane, Dublin 4.
However, the Council has refused planning permission after the Dylan Hotel and the Pembroke Rd Association outlined concerns over the scheme in submissions with the Council.
The Council has blocked the hotel after concluding that due to its height, scale, massing and proximity to the rear of the Protected Structures, the proposed development would be overly dominant, would not conserve nor enhance the special architectural character of the setting of the Protected Structures and their curtilage and would result in extensive and unjustifiable demolition of original historic fabric.
The Council concluded that the proposed works would cause serious injury to the special architectural character and legibility of the Protected Structures, their setting and their curtilage as well as the wider Conservation Areas.
The Council found that the scheme would contravene Policies in the Dublin City Council Development Plan 2022-2028 and would devalue property in the vicinity and would create a precedent for similar type undesirable development.
The planning report stated that the Council has ‘serious concerns’ with the design of the scheme.
In a submission drawn up on behalf of the owner of The Dylan Hotel, Lyndonmont Ltd, planning consultant, Thomas Freeman BL told the council that his clients have concerns over the design of the planned hotel in terms of its height and scale and the impact it would have on the Dylan Hotel on Eastmoreland Lane.
Mr Freeman contended that the applicant has not demonstrated that the proposed hotel building would not result in over-shadowing and loss of sunlight/daylight to the Dylan Hotel.
Mr Freeman stated that the Dylan hotel operators are seriously concerned about the deterioration in the quality and amenity of its hotel rooms on Eastmoreland Lane.
Mr Freeman said that his clients reserve the right to vindicate their property rights in an appropriate form concerning the planned Raglan Townhouse hotel.
On behalf of the Pembroke Road Association, Susan McCarrick told the Council: “We do not have a need for a 100 bed hotel on Upper Baggot Street.”
Ms McCarrick contended that the scheme “would seriously injure the visual and residential amenities of the area, and would set an undesirable precedent”.
Pembroke Rd resident, Marc Rutner told the council that “introducing another hotel into this already saturated market not only detracts from the potential for much-needed residential development but also overwhelms the local infrastructure, jeopardizing the area’s residential character.
Mr Rutner told the planners that “this incongruous structure would be a visual blight, imposing itself onto the character of the neighbourhood”.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
