Developers overturn refusal for apartments
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A CONSTRUCTION company has successfully appealed Dublin City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the development of 171 apartments and a childcare facility at the site of the former Faulkner Industries Factory in Chapelizod.
Applicant Midgard Construction Ltd has outlined plans for the 171 apartments to consist of 53 one-bedroom units, 92 two-bedroom units and 26 three-bedroom units across two five-storey apartment blocks.
It is proposed that Block A will consist of 93 residential units with balconies and terraces on the north, east, south and west elevations.
There are also plans for Block A to contain a concierge office ancillary to the apartments, a childcare facility and an ancillary outdoor play area all at ground floor level.
The submission includes plans for Block B to provide 78 residential units, with balconies and terraces located on all elevations.
There are provisions for car-parking spaces, comprising 172 resident spaces, 17 visitor spaces, 10 disabled spaces, six surface-level spaces and two surface-level drop-off spaces for the childcare facility.
There are plans for an ancillary plant room and bin storage at basement level, an ESB sub-station and modifications to the existing vehicular entrance to the former Faulkner Industries Factory on Chapelizod Hill Road.
Dublin City Council refused permission for the development on the grounds that the proposed development’s location is “sitting forward of the established building line, scale and massing in this prominent location on the brow of a hill, within an area characterised by an almost-country-lane layout to the east.”.
The council also refused permission on the grounds that the development would represent overdevelopment in Chapelizod, with a density of 162 housing units per hectare.
However, the applicant submitted an appeal with An Bord Pleanála (ABP) in August, and this month ABP granted permission for the development with a number of conditions and amendments.
The amendments include the omission of a number of projecting balconies in the proposed development, and that no more than 75 per cent of the residential units shall be made available before the completion of the childcare facility.
Other conditions include compliance with a number of tree protection measures and that the childcare facility shall not operate on weekends or public holidays.
