Bartra granted permission for geriatric day care centre at Presentation Convent building

Part of the existing Presentation Convent building on New Road in Clondalkin is to be turned into a geriatric day care centre, after the plans were recently approved.

South Dublin County Council granted permission to developer Bartra for the development this month.

Permission has been granted for staff accommodation ancillary to the adjacent permitted nursing home in the convent, to become a community geriatric day care centre called the Ageing Well Centre.

Plans include internal alterations and improvements to the interior of the convent at ground, first and second floors.

External alterations are proposed to accommodate two stair cores, one to include a lift, within the courtyard space and minor alterations to existing windows and doors.

South Dublin County Council granted permission for the development on May 4 last.

This is the second time Bartra has sought permission for the staff accommodation to be changed into a geriatric day care centre – but this is the first time it has been approved.

As reported in The Echo last October, South Dublin County Council refused planning permission for their first application for the change of use.

These council’s grounds for refusal included their view that sufficient information on the plans’ impact wasn’t provided.

“It is not considered that the applicant has provided sufficient information in relation to the protection of the integrity of the existing convent building, or the traffic and transport impact of the development on the local area,” it stated.

This is the latest update in the plans for the convent site, which in 2018 saw over 40 third-party submissions lodged, with most of them being objections against nursing home plans for the site.

Campaigners said the site should’ve been used for educational purposes, as it housed a playground used by a local primary school, and should have been retained as a heritage site for the community.

In late 2019, Bartra’s plans for a 155-bed nursing home, and a retirement home for the Presentation nuns on land at the convent grounds, were approved by An Bord Pleanála.

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