Plans for Royal Canal Square in Cabra rejected by ABP

Planning permission for a proposed 16-storey mixed-use building in Cabra has been refused by An Bord Pleanála.

The proposed development would have created a mixed-use scheme similar to what is seen on Grand Canal Square, and bring a “dynamic new urban quarter” to Cabra.

The development, titled Royal Canal Square, has been put on ice by An Bord Pleanála for now, with the ruling stating that granting planning permission would be “premature” as an extension of the Luas Green Line is still in the design process and any future building in the area would need to implement the extended Green Line.

An extension to the Luas Green Line, which currently has Broombridge as a terminus point, is included in Govermnent’s Project Ireland 2040 plan.

The favoured route of the Green Line extension would extend out from the existing track at Broombridge Station and cut through Tolka Valley Park.

The proposed extension to the Green Line would see Charleston, St Helena’s, Finglas Village, and St. Margaret’s Road added to the existing Green Line, and the ruling from An Bord Pleanála has now put the impetus on any potential new developments in this part of Dublin to be mindful of the proposed Green Line works.

Another factor in the development being rejected was a planned feasibility study and local statutory plan for the industrial estate in Broombridge, and the project being given the go-ahead would have interfered with the plans.

Explaining their decision to reject the plan, the board stated that if the scheme was given the green light it would result in “piecemeal and fragmented development.”

They stated that the plan, as it stands, lacks “coherent integration” with potential future developments in the area.

The report said that the “excessive height” would result in an “overly dominant, overbearing and monolithic development.”

Citing a recommendation by inspector Terence McLellan, the appeals board found that the scheme would have a “significant” detrimental impact on visual amenities in the area, and would not integrate well into the existing environment in the locality.

The plan, proposed by Woodberry Printing LTD, looked to develop the site on a 5.63 acre at the Broombridge Industrial Estate.

The plan called for 304 apartments, a 100-bedroom hotel, 44,365 square metres of office space and plans for 14 retail units.

Initial plans to include a 16-storey block in the proposal were reduced to 12 storeys while a 12-storey block was reduced to 10 storeys, but the plan was not successful.

Development has increased in the surrounding areas in recent years, as Dublin continues its urban sprawl.

Dublin City Council announced plans in 2018 to review 82 industrial zones west of Dublin city centre in a bid to alleviate the housing crisis, with a view to creating new suburbs or potential new towns.

The 8th Lock development in the nearby Ashtown will put 435 new apartments on the market upon compilation, with the first residents moving in late last year.

The population of Cabra was recorded at around 23,700 in the 2022 census, while the population of Ashtown has grown from over 10,000 citizens in the 2006 census to nearly 15,000 in the census for 2022.

Growing populations are a factor in decisions made by the board, as well as how planned structures blend into the pre-existing area.

The new decision upholds a planning refusal that was issued by Dublin City Council in November 2022.

Kevin Hughes of Hughes Planning and Development Consultants told Dublin City Council in September of 2022 that the proposal would “bring hundreds of jobs to the area and the city more broadly, and we believe can breathe life into this dated industrial area of the city which has been underutilised and earmarked for redevelopment for a number of years”.

The appeal argued that the scheme would have been a “starting point” for the redevelopment and regeneration of the southern part of the Broombridge Industrial Estate and that should the project proceed, it would have acted as a “stimulus” for continued development of the area.

The Local Area Plan will not be available until mid-2024, meaning that any further developments around Broombridge remain in limbo for now.