A graphic of how the Santry Avenue development by Dwyer Nolan would look
Dwyer Nolan Developments has secured the green light, at the third attempt, for a €122m 321-unit apartment scheme in seven blocks with one reaching to 13 storeys in height at Swords Road, Santry, north Dublin.
Dublin City Council has granted planning for the large-scale residential development (LRD) scheme despite local objections including one from the Chadwicks Group, which is the current tenant on-site.
In granting planning permission, the council planner’s report did acknowledge that the proposed density of 214 units per hectare was high but stated that it did not have any objection in principle to a high-density development on the site, given its close proximity to a high-frequency public transport corridor.
The council also concluded that the development has been appropriately designed to a scale and density which is considered appropriate for the area positioned on a corner site.
However, the Chadwicks Group told Dublin City Council that the density of the scheme for the site is too high.
In an objection, the builders’ providers told the council that a large quantity of non-residential floorspace should be provided in the scheme in order to satisfy the intention of the neighbourhood zoning for the site.
Social Democrat TD Róisín Shortall lodged a submission and argued that the planned 13-storey height does not meet key criteria laid out in the Dublin City Development Plan in respect of greater building heights.
Ms Shortall stated that a number of large-scale developments have been granted planning permission for the area in recent years, most of which, she said, have or will yield apartments that are priced out of reach of ordinary workers and local people.
The planning permission comes five years after Dwyer Nolan purchased the site in 2019 to develop.
In November 2021, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission to Dwyer Nolan’s 350-unit Strategic Housing Development (SHD) due to the proposed mix of dwelling units not being addressed in planning documentation.
Dwyer Nolan lodged a revised SHD scheme in July 2022 for 350 apartments and no decision has yet been made on the revised plan by An Bord Pleanála resulting in the firm lodging the LRD scheme.
As part of the proposal, Dwyer Nolan is to sell 32 apartments for social housing for an indicative €12.19m cost to Dublin City Council in order to comply with statutory Part V social housing requirements.
