Battle to block bungalow build

Residents of a Tallaght estate have started a petition against a new development being built on a green space in the area, while several have submitted objections.

Residents of Old Bawn Way in Old Bawn have collected around 40 signatures so far against a proposed development to erect a new single-storey one-bedroom home on part of a small slip of green.

A planning application has been lodged by Kenny Estates for the construction of a new single-storey one-bedroom home with the address 20A Old Bawn Way on 0.192 hectares of green space, or 0.47acres.

The house described in the application is approximately 52 sq m in size and the application includes a request for a private open space and private car-parking for social or older person’s use.

Old Bawn Way resident Phil Callan noted that the removal of the green space to make way for a new home is “just not on.”

Callan said: “It’s just not on. Oldbawn estate is over 50 years old . . . if they get permission to stick a house there, they’ll be using all the other greens up.”

A submission objecting to the planning application noted the space contributes positively to the street’s aesthetic, the estate layout, separation between homes, suburban character and the local green infrastructure network.

The author described the green space as an “important visual break” on the street and noted its proximity to a medical practice that relies on informal on-street parking on both sides of the road.

Other submissions made in objection to the proposal point to the existing traffic congestion in the area, an existing older person’s residential unit nearby and the manner in which the site notice was erected.

Callan noted that the notice was placed on the green space overnight and that the move “felt a bit sneaky.”

Ground rent has been paid over the years to the owner of the land, which currently is collected by Kenny Estates, and Callan questioned why the council never purchased the land before it came into the possession of Ellard Lipson, who gave landowner’s consent for the proposed new build.

“What I can’t understand is why the council never bought that land out, because the council are the people who maintain it.”

The Echo has reached out to Kenny Estates for comment on the application.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme