An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission to the builder of the 3Arena for 176 apartments in north Dublin as the scheme did not provide 5% or more of space for community, arts and culture spaces.
In a Strategic Housing Development (SHD) application first lodged in August 2022, the appeals board has now refused planning permission to Walls Construction Ltd to demolish its Rosemount House HQ, Northern Cross, Malahide Rd in Dublin 17 and replace it with a €77m nine storey mixed use scheme made up of 176 apartments.
The scheme consists of 72 one bed apartment units, 57 two bed apartments units and 47 three bed units.
The scheme also includes 1,050 square metres in office accommodation on the ground floor which will house the building firm’s new headquarters.
However, the company’s plans to cash in on its HQ have failed after the appeals board refused planning permission after finding that the scheme materially contravened the Dublin City Development Plan concerning the provision of arts and culture spaces in new developments.
The board stated that the Dublin City Development Plan requires that large scale developments over 10,000 sq metres must provide at a minimum for 5% community, arts and culture spaced as part of the development.
The board stated that the new scheme “does not provide for such floor area, even though it provides for an area in excess of 10,000 sq metres”.
The failure to provide 5% space for community, arts and culture is the sole reason for refusal.
The appeals board inspector in the case had recommended that planning permission be granted. Paul O’Brien found that the requirement to provide 5% of the gross floor of the scheme towards cultural, amenity and the arts as “unreasonable and would recommend that the applicant not have to provide this space”.
Mr O’Brien stated that the proposed development does not provide for any cultural facilities within the scheme.
He said that the applicant has justified this on the basis that the Cultural Infrastructure Study did not identify any deficit of such facilities in the Northern Cross area.
He said that the provision of the cultural space would equate to 21 one bedroom apartments.
He said that the City Development Plan objective was not in place when the applicant was designing this development and therefore, they would not have made provision in the design for such uses.
Overall, Mr O’Brien stated that he was satisfied “that the design is of a high quality and will provide for a suitable form of development into the existing urban area”.
Mr O’Brien said that he was satisfied “that the development will not have an unduly negative impact on the existing residential amenity of the area.
He said that the proposed development would see the redevelopment of an existing site replacing an office only use with a mixed-use scheme predominantly made up of residential units but also providing for office and a café use.
He said: “I consider this to be a good use of this site, providing for required housing but also retaining a commercial aspect on site.”
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
