Fast-track plans for six- to nine-storey blocks in Cookstown
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A DEVELOPER is fast-tracking plans for a 196-unit residential development on Second Avenue in Cookstown Industrial Estate, after having previously secured planning permission for the construction of 107 apartments at the same location last August.
Pyrmont Property Developments Limited received planning permission from South Dublin County Council in February 2018 for the construction of 107 apartment units, the majority of which are to be one- and two-bed units, and these plans were then appealed to An Bord Pleanála by local community groups who objected to the development.
An artist impression of the 196 apartment plans fast-tracked to ABP
The three community groups cited concerns about the lack of family housing in the area and the “out-of-character” height and design of the development in relation to neighbouring areas as part of their grounds for objecting to the development.
However, An Bord Pleanála granted permission to Prymont Property Development Limited for the development last August, and they stated in their board direction that the development “would not seriously injure the visual or residential amenities of the area” and that it “would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.”
The developer lodged a new application with An Bord Pleanála last month, seeking permission for the demolition of an existing 2,590 sq. m industrial building and the construction of a ‘build to rent’ housing development, providing a total of 196 residential apartments.
There was confusion in the community about whether these two developments were in fact one and the same.
However, a spokesperson for An Bord Pleanala confirmed that they are two separate developments that are in the same location.
The plans for the proposed 196 residential apartment development have gone straight to An Board Pleanála, following a pre-application consultation with South Dublin County Council, due to new fast-track legislation introduced last year in response to the housing crisis.
The new law applies to ‘strategic housing developments’, which are large-scale housing developments.
It is proposed that the development will contain 45 studio units, 48 one-bed units, eight two-bed (three-person) and 95 two-bed (four-person) units, all to be housed in four six- to nine-storey blocks over basement.
Provision for a commercial unit, an office unit, a creche, a gym, six community spaces, a communal hot desk room, three communal storage areas, a landscaped courtyard, 408 bicycle spaces and a 67-space underground car park is included in the plans.
The newspaper notice for the development was placed in a national newspaper, while the developer has set up a website about the development under the heading of Cookstown Crescent SHD. These plans are the latest part of a raft of changes that are planned to take place in the surrounding area, with Marlet having lodged plans for the development of 438 apartments, a 403 bed-space student accommodation scheme and a new urban quarter on a 7.2-hectare site off the Belgard Road.
As previously reported in The Echo, Marlet property group acquired the site for a reported €16 million in 2017, with a number of individual units assembled into one land package for the sale.
A second planning application for further development at the same location is expected from Marlet.
An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on Pyrmount Property Developments Limited’s current application by June 11 this year.
