Developer to re-apply for Cuckoo’s Nest apartments
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A DEVELOPER’S decision to withdraw their application to demolish The Cuckoo’s Nest pub to make way for an apartment development has been described as a “hollow victory” for residents of the adjoining Temple Woods housing estate.
In the letter to the planning authority withdrawing the plans, developers Legendstand Ltd also state that they intend to submit a similar application on the same site “as soon as possible”.
The Cuckoo's Nest site with the Temple Woods houses to the back and the new Tallaght Theatre building to the left
As previously reported in The Echo, Legendstand, who developed Temple Woods, submitted an application for a modification to their permitted planning permission for the development of a new housing estate, Temple Woods, beside the pub.
The houses in Temple Woods are now all occupied, and at viewings potential buyers were given brochures which mentioned plans for a gastropub in the place of The Cuckoo’s Nest, which the developer had received planning permission for.
However, Legendstand Ltd. submitted an application last January seeking permission for the demolition of The Cuckoo’s Nest and the construction of 11 one-bed and 15 two-bed apartments in a four-storey apartment building in its place.
The plans caused consternation in the local community, with the Temple Woods Residents’ Association holding a well-attended public meeting about the plans in February, and over 200 signatures were gathered by Solidarity representatives, who also held a street meeting, in a petition against the plans last month.
Legendstand withdrew their application for the modification from South Dublin County Council on Monday.
Tommy Kenny from the Temple Woods Residents’ Association told The Echo: “While it’s a victory for us, it’s a hollow victory because we still don’t know what’s going on [with the site of the pub].
“Thirty-nine people bought houses in Temple Woods with the promise that it would be finished with a gastropub – so will the developer do that now or will he do something different?
“Will the council leave it open-ended or will they insist that the [the developers] do the job that they previously got planning permission for?
“We have no conclusion as yet, so we’re left hanging in the balance to see what the developer’s next move will be.”
The Echo contacted the developer’s office and a spokesperson said that they had “no comment” to make about the application being withdrawn.
Geraldine Lynch, whose father, Peader Lynch, previously owned The Cuckoo’s Nest, told The Echo: “We were all really saddened and disappointed at the prospect of the pub being demolished.
“We do understand that the developer is a businessman, but we think he didn’t understand the emotional attachment people have to the pub.
“In fairness, he is a businessman and is probably trying to make the best of the site and didn’t comprehend that attachment.
“We closed the pub suddenly and we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, so we left a letter on the window for our customers, saying the pub was as much theirs as it was ours.
“People have to do what they have to do, but we would hope there would be a pub there [again].”
TAGS Tallaght
