Dublin City Council has refused planning permission to contentious plans for a planned seven storey apart-hotel for Dublin’s Thomas Street.
The 93 bedroom apartment hotel scheme by Co Mayo firm Welthomas Property Ltd for Dublin 8 was opposed by Sinn Féin TD, Aengus O Snodaigh and local residents.
A planning report lodged with the application stated that the scheme “proposes the regeneration of a small scale, vacant, urban infill brownfield site”.
The report states that the site is currently used as a surface car park “which is a highly inefficient and unsustainable use of a scarce land resource in the inner city”.
The report states that the proposal represents an appropriate use of this brownfield site and will significantly enhance the attractiveness of the city’s tourism accommodation offer.
The report states that a hotel concentration report states that there is not an over concentration of comparable aparthotels within a 1km catchment.
However, the Council has refused planning permission after concluding that the proposal “is overly dominant, would appear overbearing and incongruous on the streetscape”.
The Council stated that “furthermore it is considered that the proposal would have a negative impact on the archaeological and built heritage interests along Thomas Street”.
The planning authority also ruled that the scheme “would set an undesirable precedent for similar developments in the area”.
The Council has also refused planning permission as the applicant failed to submit Basement Impact Assessment in order to identify and assess the impact of the proposed basement construction on the surrounding environment.
The Council pointed out that the site is also within a Zone of Archaeological Constraint for a number of structures and would therefore require the removal of any archaeological deposits from the site.
The Council stated that the scheme is contrary to Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028 which places a presumption against basement development in the medieval core and known medieval sites.
In a joint objection, Deputy O Snodaigh (SF) and Cllr Máire Devine (SF) said: “We ask that the Planning Authority be cognisant of the oversaturation of hotels/ apart-hotels/co-living and student accommodation in the Liberties.
They added: “This is additional transient accommodation while many of the local population are unable to secure a place to live.”
They stated that “given that the beloved Liberties is designated as a “Special Area of Conservation” the inappropriate height, scale and material finishes are inappropriate and lack sympathy towards the established protected structures along Thomas St”.
In another objection, local resident, Niamh O’Beirne told the council where she claimed that there “is a systematic attempt at erasing the character and culture of the Liberties”.
She said: “The area is already saturated with hotels, aparthotels and Air BnB’s.”
A resident in the area for 14+ years, Ms O’Beirne told the council: ”I have seen the negative and alienating effects of so called “development” on the area. The building of transitory accommodation that serves only tourism does nothing to improve the lives and living conditions of those who live and work in the community.”
