Plans for a major new state-of-the-art training facility in south Dublin by the Dublin GAA County Board have been put on hold following objections by local residents.
Several appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the recent decision of South Dublin County Council to grant planning permission for the development of the new “GAA cluster facility” at the site of the existing Spawell sports and leisure centre just off the M50 in Templeogue.
The plans, which require the demolition of the existing golf driving range and the partial loss of indoor and outdoor soccer pitches, will provide three new floodlit GAA pitches with electronic scoreboards and dugouts and an indoor training facility.
The project also involves the construction of a stand with seating for 500 spectators and two uncovered terraces on either side of the main stand with capacity for another 500 attendants.
A new pavilion will include ten team changing rooms, shower facilities, dining room, gym, tuck shop, meeting room, physio and first aid facilities and medical room.
A fourth pitch is already under construction on a former pitch and putt course at the 13.8-hectare facility which Dublin GAA bought for over €9 million in 2017.
Other elements of the project include a large L-shaped hurling wall running to 105 metres in length and an all-weather surface sprint training area, as well as a 1.32km walking trail/jogging track.
The Dublin GAA County Board had to submit revised plans containing a “comprehensive redesign” of the new training facility to the local authority in October 2024 to address concerns raised by council planners about its impact on the environment and traffic.
They include the redesign and relocation of the pavilion building and overflow car parking area and limiting the use of floodlights to 10pm between October and March, while lights on the walking trail will be turned off at 10.30pm during the same period.
Dublin GAA said such a level of use of the floodlights was “absolutely essential” for the optimum use of the facility and a requirement to turn them off at an earlier time “would have serious adverse implication for the playing of games etc outside daylight hours and would seriously compromise the utility of the proposed facility.”
It said ecological surveys had concluded that the project would not compromise the integrity of or have any adverse impact on any protected habitat in the area, including on bat populations.
Dublin GAA said the facility will represent “a very significant addition to the area’s active recreational infrastructure” to enable the future growth of Gaelic games in south Dublin.
It claimed the provision of a jogging/walking trail with exercise stations constituted “a significant community gain” for the wider community.
The number of car parking spaces was also increased from the original proposal of 112 to 155 which excludes an overflow car park for 19 vehicles, while a boundary wall on Wellington Lane as well as an embankment and a significant number of trees and hedgerows will be retained.
Dublin GAA sought a ten-year planning permission for the project on the basis it is an amateur volunteer-based sporting organisation which will require extensive fundraising over a period of time to develop the facility.
A total of 63 third-party submissions were received by South Dublin County Council, including many from local GAA clubs which voiced strong support for the project, adding it would provide much needed training and match facilities.
However, three appeals have been lodged with An Bord Pleanála against the council’s decision including one on behalf of Orwell Park Residents’ Association.
It called for the board to consider relocating the main vehicle entrance and exit from Wellington Lane to the M50 slip roads and N81.
The group claims there are major flaws in traffic projections made by consultants for the Dublin GAA County Board including the failure to take into account the substantial impact which the BusConnects project will have on traffic flows on Wellington Lane.
The residents also maintain that the proposed level of car parking is inadequate for events attracting 1,000 spectators which would result in “inevitable and substantial” on-street parking in adjoining housing estates.
Another group of residents from Rossmore who have appealed the council’s decision said they were not opposed in principle to the plans for a new GAA training facility at the Spawell site.
However, they said the proposed new vehicular entrance at the junction of Wellington Lane and Rossmore Road, which is 75 metres from the existing entrance, was unsuitable and would “effectively paralyse the road.”
The group also called for planning permission to be refused for the spectator stand and terraces as they were “simply an unnecessary add-on to the high-performance facility.”
While local Fine Gael TD Colm Brophy welcomed the investment by the GAA of enhanced sports facilities in the area, he claimed the proposed entrance to the site at Rossmore remained unacceptable to many residents.
Mr Brophy also called on Dublin GAA to relocate the entrance to the N81 road as well as to provide additional parking.
The Spawell site was once proposed as the location for a 25,000-seater GAA stadium to host intercounty matches as a more suitable alternative to Croke Park for certain games.
Dublin GAA is also developing a similar centre of excellence on the city’s northside on the 9.3 hectare site of Hollystown Golf Course which it purchased in 2020.
It was granted planning permission for the €6.6m development in late 2022.
The county board said the plans for the Spawell site had emerged from a strategic plan published in 2012 which had identified a range of significant deficits in the physical infrastructure for the playing of Gaelic games in Dublin.
A ruling by An Bord Pleanála on the various appeals is due to be issued towards the end of May 2025.
