Parish needs to retain use of two prefab buildings in Lucan

A CHURCH of Ireland parish has clarified the need to retain two prefabricated buildings as childcare facilities at the former home of St Andrew’s School in Lucan.

The Select Vestry, Leixlip Union of Parishes, applied for permission to retain two prefabs at Canon Despard Centre in Chapel Hill.

On approving the development, the local planning authority stated that the prefabs were permitted for a temporary period of three years unless a further grant of retention permission was issued.

If the applicant wanted to file for retention permission, they needed to seek permission to extend the duration of the prefabs on site within three years up to July 23, 2021.

However, the application was lodged on September 3, 2021.

In a document attached with the planning application, it states “that due to oversight” the permission to extend “was not taken within three years of the final grant of permission”.

According to the planning application, the recreational hall remains in community use including “Scouting Organisations” and the prefabs have “undergone extensive repairs”.

Two temporary prefabs were approved for a period of three years and are now filled by Village Montessori and a special-needs pre-school, Nexus.

South Dublin County Council requested that the applicants clarify the rationale behind applying for further temporary accommodation.

According to the applicant, granting retention permission would allow the two pre-schools to continue providing “their existing level of service” whilst giving “the parish space to put together a plan for long-term use of the site”.

“It is envisaged replacement of temporary buildings by permanent extension and/or retro-fitting, re-purposing of existing buildings to a changed environmental standard,” a document from the applicant detailing the rationale states.

When the service is completed of these buildings or the replacement with a permanent structural solution, “it is proposed that they be demolished and removed from the site”.

They did reiterate that “it is not proposed that the structures be permanent”.

In the report from the local planning authority, is it recommended that planning be limited to two years should retention be granted.

“We do not feel that this would be adequate time for a long-term plan to be prepared for the site,” the applicant says.

Up until 2017, the property at the site was St Andrew’s School.

Following its demise, in 2018, its use was changed to that of childcare facilities and recreational mixed usage.

The proposals do not impact James MacCarten slab, which is on the opposite side of the boundary wall of the subject site.

James MacCarten slab is a protected structure which was erected following the murder of the parish priest on Chapel Hill in 1807.

A decision was first due in October but following a request for additional information, the council is now set to decide this case on January 6, 2022.