Five-storey nursing home development on Priory grounds ‘fails to be sensitive’
A PROPOSED nursing home development in the grounds of St Mary’s Priory in Tallaght “fails to be sensitive” to its surroundings, according to South Dublin County Council in its decision to refuse permission for the development.
As reported in The Echo last May, the plans for a five-storey nursing home and older person independent living units were lodged by St Mary’s Medical (Tallaght) Ltd.
The directors of St Mary’s Medical (Tallaght) are Shane Slevin and Lisa McDonald. Mr Slevin is also the director of a company that constructs commercial buildings, called L&S Structures Limited.
Their planning application included plans for the construction of a five-storey nursing home development with 112 ensuite bedrooms, a day centre and a pharmacy.
It was proposed that 108 one-bedroom/two-person independent living units for older people and five guest bedrooms would be housed in a part-five/part-six storey building.
According to the site notice, each unit would be provided with private open spaces in the form of balconies and terraces.
Provision of 30 car parking spaces and 86 bicycle parking spaces was included, while access to the development was to be provided by a new pedestrian and vehicular access point from Old Greenhills Road, through an existing boundary wall.
The plans attracted 11 third-party submissions, where issues raised included concerns about the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA), the scale, density and height of the development, the additional entrance leading to a loss of existing walls, car-parking, and that there was “no engagement” with the community in relation to the planning application.
The local authority refused permission for the plans this month on a number of grounds.
These grounds include the council’s view that the proposed development “fails to be sensitive within its proposed location” and that it would “completely dominate” its site within the grounds of the Priory, as a result of its proposed height, scale and mass.
In reaching its decision, the council noted that the development would “be seriously injurious to the redevelopment of the village centre”, and added that the building height would be contrary to the current Tallaght Town Centre Local Area Plan.
The proposed parking provision of 30 car parking spaces would “seriously under-provide” for the proposed development, according to SDCC.
The SDCC Roads Department had recommended that the development would require 43 car parking spaces, and seven spaces for complementary uses, reaching a total of 50 parking spaces.
As reported in The Echo last September, lands adjoining the Priory went on the market with a guide price of €5m.
Owned by the Dominican Fathers before the sale, the 2.46-acre pocket of land which backs onto the TU Dublin – Tallaght Campus on the Old Greenhills Road-side of Tallaght Village, was sold as a ‘prime residential development site’.
