Residents frustrated as rejected plan is appealed

RESIDENTS in Glasnevin are asking the owners of a site earmarked for a block of apartments that was refused permission to withdraw their appeal and engage with them.

Glenella Foods were refused permission last May to build 14 one-bedroom apartments in a four-storey block that would tower above neighbouring buildings.

However, an appeal against the decision has now been lodged with An Bord Pleanála meaning the development above the Eurospar shop on the Ballymun Road, opposite to DCU, could still go ahead.

The plans show 14 apartments with balconies/open space on the first, second, third and fourth floors of the building that would also house commercial offices.

Dublin City Council refused permission determining that the development’s “excessive height, monolithic design, scale and elevational treatment” would be “visually obtrusive”.

The council’s decision also stated that it would have “an adverse impact” on the character of the area when viewed in the context of the existing streetscape.

The council went on to voice concerns that the development could set an undesirable precedent for other developments and stated that in its proposed form would provide for a poor standard of residential amenity to future occupants.

However, despite the refusal and multiple objections from locals an appeal against the decision has now been lodged with An Bord Pleanála.

A spokesperson for local residents’ group, Wadelai, Hillcrest & District Residents’ Association, said nobody in the area was opposed to a well thought out plan to improve the neighbourhood.

“However, what the proposal currently on the table amounts to is an over-development that seeks to change the character of our neighbourhood,” the spokesperson continued.

“Parking in the area where the shops are situated is currently a nightmare for residents, especially with DCU and Albert College Park across the road. There has been near misses and tress damaged by rogue drivers in the past.

“While we acknowledge that there is a need to increase housing supply in Dublin, we feel that 14 one-bedroom apartments will do nothing to help this, nor will it add anything positive to our neighbourhood. When a city starts to build up, it should be starting in the centre not in the suburbs.

“We are calling on the owners of Eurospar to go back to the drawing board and include the residents of the area in their planning from stage one.”

An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the appeal by October 16.