A group of Southside residents have begun High Court proceedings against Dublin City Council over controversial plans for a Rathgar park.
Back in August, St Mary’s College Rathmines was granted a Section 5 Exemption from Planning Permission from Dublin City planners for Phase 1 of their Kenilworth Square Redevelopment Plan.
This exemption allows them to replace a grass rugby pitch in Kenilworth Square with a full size (100m x 70m) 4G synthetic pitch, install a 1.2m high fence around it and cut down eight healthy, mature trees, all without planning permission.
On Tuesday, October 15, Protect Kenilworth Square, a campaign group consisting of local residents, lodged judicial review proceedings against the council in an attempt to have their the decision overturned.
St. Mary’s College’s plans to redevelop Kenilworth Square has been met with fierce opposition from some members of the St. Mary’s College school community, local residents and the wider Dublin 6 community.
‘Project Kenilworth Square’ is St. Mary’s College’s name for its plans to upgrade its sporting facilities at Kenilworth Square.
Over the estimated four years that the current plan was in gestation, residents and locals in Dublin 6 and 6W say they were never consulted.
They also say that from April of this year, when the plans were discovered, all requests for meetings with St Mary’s and its planners have been ignored, rejected or ‘kicked down the line’.
An intensive awareness campaign has been conducted around Rathgar, Rathmines, Terenure and Harold’s Cross, all of which are adjacent to Kenilworth Square.
A petition rejecting St Mary’s plans has been signed by 2772 people among them parents, alumni, community leaders, environmentalists, conservationists, locals and residents.
The Protect Kenilworth Square campaign says it rejects the St. Mary’s College Redevelopment Plans on several grounds, including heritage, biodiversity and community.
In a statement, the group said “we reject the replacement of natural grass with a plastic pitch.”“We oppose the commercialisation of the Astro pitch. (It is to be rented by the hour, on a rotational basis, for at least six days a week, to GAA, Football and other sporting groups).”
“We are appalled at the plan for densification of trees around the perimeter, which would destroy the beautiful visual amenity.”
“This is enjoyed by residents and everyone visiting the Square, including walkers, joggers, parents with young children and older residents of the area, as they stroll around the perimeter.”
“Protect Kenilworth Square also vehemently rejects the decision by St. Mary’s to seek a Section 5 planning exemption as part of the process.”
They noted that on 29th July 2024 St Mary’s College Rathmines applied for a Section 5 Exemption from the Dublin City Council Planning Dept (App no: 0285/24) for the installation of an Astro (plastic) pitch and 1.2m fencing.
“The application only became visible online five days later, without any supporting documents. The documents were only obtainable by going to the Planning Office and requesting a copy,” they noted.
According to Martin Joyce, a Committee Member of Protect Kenilworth Square, “This Section 5 application is an underhand move by St. Mary’s College and it follows misleading and false information communicated to the school’s parents about the plans and about its engagement with the local community.”
“The manner in which they are dealing with stakeholders, parents, community, locals and residents is truly shocking, especially coming from a religious-run school that espouses values around community spirit and has a stated mission to ‘serve the common good.”
According to the Committee, St Mary’s College has “cherrypicked just two elements of their major redevelopment plan in order to obtain Section 5 exemption.”
“This is designed to enable the school to get a head start in progressing an overall project that requires full planning permission. The approach taken is a gross abuse of the Section 5 procedure.”
Martin Joyce described the planning application as “just the first step.”
“We vigorously oppose this totally inappropriate Exemption request,” he said.
“This application is of course just the first step in an incremental push to obtain everything that the school wants under its overall plan.
“If granted exemption for the Astro (plastic) pitch, an application for 18m high Floodlights, a Car Park inside the park, cutting down of many historic trees, and a 10-roomed Pavilion, with a Spectator Area, will soon follow. It is all outlined on their website www.projectkenilworth.ie.”