Appeal lodged with ABP over Bruce House plans
By Aideen O'Flaherty
TALLAGHT Community Council (TCC) has lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala against South Dublin County Council’s decision to grant permission for the development of apartments on the site of Bruce House in Tallaght Village.
The development plans were lodged by Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc last July, outlining plans for the construction of a four-storey building to house one retail unit and 31 apartment units.
Bruce House, Tallaght Village
The plans attracted two third-party objections, one from the Bancroft Residents’ Association and one from TCC, but was granted planning permission by the council last August.
As of this week, plain wooden hoarding has been erected around the perimeter of Bruce House, which formerly housed Threshold Training Network, and prior to that was well-known as the location of the Tallaght branch of Bank of Ireland.
TCC lodged an objection to the council’s decision on September 24, on a number of grounds.
One of these grounds includes concerns about the height of the planned development, with TCC stating that “a clear height stepdown is required to respect the buildings to the east on the same side of the street, and for the traditional two-storey homes opposite Bruce House.”
Other points of contention included in TCC’s appeal include Irish Residential Properties REIT Plc’s submission of three separate planning applications concerning three sites in Tallaght Village, while the developer’s rate of ownership of their apartment units creates a “very, very low occupier owner rate”, according to TCC.
The level of “small apartments” in the area, which contain less than three bedrooms, and in the proposed development, and the “poor state of repair” of areas surrounding the Priorsgate development, including the Charlie O’Toole Bridge, are also included in the reasons for TCC believing that their appeal should be upheld.
A decision on the appeal has not yet been made by An Bord Pleanala.
