DCC turns down plans to develop 52 apartments at Kestrel pub site

Dublin City Council has turned down plans to develop 52 apartments on the site of the Kestrel Pub at the Walkinstown Roundabout.

The plan, proposed by Double E Investments, would see the demolition of the two-storey pub and the construction of an eight-storey apartment block with zero car parking spaces.

The developer said that no parking spaces were included in the plans due to the site’s proximity to public transport and the inclusion of 96 bicycle parking spaces.

The 52 apartments would have been divided up into 23 one-bed and 29 two-bed units.

However, there were several objections to the plans filed by local residents to the county council citing the lack of parking spaces and how it would negatively affect the local traffic network and increase pressure on nearby roads.

The Walkinstown Residents’ Association (WRA), which also objected to the plans said that the lack of parking “will impact unfairly on residents in the immediate area.”

“Most of access to development would be from Bunting Road which is already traffic restricted,” the group said.

The WRA also voiced concern on the height and scale of the proposal, saying it was not suitable for the low-lying neighbourhood.

Other submissions filed to the council said that the “overdevelopment of the site” would put “additional strain” on the local water and sewage infrastructure.

Dublin City Council said in its decision that it refused permission based on a number of factors.

It said that the development included inadequate car parking spaces which would “generate overspill parking and servicing activity onto the adjacent heavily trafficked public road network, namely Bunting Road, Walkinstown Road, Cromwellsfort Road, and footpaths thereby causing an obstruction to pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and other road users.”

The council said that without parking spaces, the development would have a “negative impact on the surrounding local road network.”

The local authority also said: “The proposed development, at both town and streetscape level, fails to successfully integrate into the existing character of the area, given the height strategy pursued and the visual prominence of the site, resulting in a visually dominant and overbearing form of development when viewed from the public realm.

“The proposal would […] therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

In 2019, the Kestrel pub was bought for more than €1.8m from publican Michael McGowan purchased the popular landmark for around €2m in 2011.