Laurels receives permission for Town House Hotel plans
By Hayden Moore
PLANS to convert the first floor of The Laurels in Perrystown into a Town House Hotel has been given the go ahead by An Bord Pleanála.
South Dublin County Council approved planning permission for The Laurels Ltd to convert a restaurant kitchen area and staff quarters on the first floor to a Town House Hotel last December.
Planning has been approved for the first floor of the Laurels to be converted into a Town House Hotel
But the decision to grant was appealed to An Bord Pleanála (ABP) by Recorders’ Residents Association because they believed that sufficient cognisance of the points they made in their original letter was not taken by the council.
Stating that they are “not anti-progress”, the residents association believe that to “stand by and watch your once pleasant area being turned into a nightmare scenario” is not the way forward.
The resident’s association stated that this “nightmare scenario” is a result of “higgledy piggledy” planning applications.
The proposed development comprises of nine en-suite bedrooms with five double bedrooms and four four-person family rooms.
Ancillary accommodation including a reception area, tea station, lift with new entrance staircase and fire escape stairs to the rear are included in the plans.
Also, a first floor beer garden are included.
On the ground floor of the two-storey building in Perrystown, a public house and betting shop exists.
The residents association stated: “Down the years there has been piece-meal development at the commercial locations surrounding the junctions of Whitehall Road East, West, Close and Rockfield Avenue.
“Much has been down to the sub-division of properties, the results of which, we feel have been problematic for local residents.”
They also believe that there “will be a loss of the privacy” to residential houses at the location due to a “considerable overlook” and shared concerns around light pollution, the entrance lobby proposed and parking – believing the proposed development would “compound” the issues.
Ultimately, ABP upheld the council’s decision to grant permission on the grounds that “with conditions… the proposed development would not seriously injure the residential or visual amenity of the area”.
