OVER 500 people attended a packed public meeting in Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel in Killiney last week to voice their opposition to a controversial planning application within Dalkey’s scenic Bullock Harbour.
Opponents to the plan by Bartra Capital Ltd claim the scale, height, density and mass of the planning application would destroy one of the last small working harbours on the coast around Dublin and seriously curtail its use as a public amenity.
The meeting, organised by the Bullock Harbour Preservation Association, was attended by councillors and TDs of various political parties and representatives of numerous community groups who spoke vehemently against the proposal to build on the former Western Marine site.
Susan McDonnell, the chairperson of the association’s Planning Committee, gave a presentation on Bartra’s planning application for a three-storey building on the quay comprising six residences over commercial units and three houses behind this of between 4,300 to 4,600sq ft.
Ms McDonnell argued that the planning application contravened the planning regulations in several areas.
McDonnell claimed that if granted, the project would deprive the community of public amenities that they have enjoyed for centuries and block public views to the rocks and the sea.
There are also a range of “serious safety concerns”, she said, including a flooding risk to the proposed houses and the existing iconic blue cottage – the residence of the owner of one of the two boat-hiring businesses in the harbour.
“One after another, people spoke of the history, the heritage, the culture, their memories of swimming, fishing, diving, playing in the harbour and their fears for the future if this kind of construction was allowed to go ahead by the planners,” a spokesperson for the association stated.
“They spoke of the harbour as a public amenity and how this proposal would impact severely on public usage in the future.
“Representatives of the kayakers, the divers, the anglers, sea scouts, the fishermen, walkers, local residents and users of the harbour from all over the city strongly rejected the proposed development.”
Public representatives and councillors from Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour, the Green Party, People Before Profit and Sinn Fein, as well as speakers from An Taisce, Save Our Seashore, Dalkey Community Council, Tidy Towns and residents from around the city and Howth spoke out to express their opposition to the proposed development.