Dublin Cycling Campaign has been successful in its challenge to the construction of 741 apartments in the city centre on the basis car parking spaces included the scheme were not properly considered as part of the planning process.
The cycling campaign group went to the High Court to
challenge a decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for the ‘strategic
housing development’ apartments, as part of the larger Connolly Quarter, on the
site of a CIÉ car park beside Connolly Station.
If developers can secure ‘strategic housing development’ status for their proposed construction projects it greatly speeds up the planning process for them.
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The legal challenge centred on the inclusion of 135 new car park spaces that developers Oxley-Ballymore claimed they did not need planning permission for.
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Dublin Cycling Campaign’s case was that planning
permission was required and that An Bord Pleanála’s failure to consider the car
park spaces when granting permission meant it had erred in law.
Mr Justice Denis McDonald agreed with Dublin Cycling
Campaign and found that because the car park spaces were not assessed and
approved, the apartment development could not be consider a ‘strategic housing
development’.
That was a key point in the case because An Bord Pleanála
can only grant permission directly to ‘strategic housing developments’. All
other schemes must be assessed and approved through the normal planning
process.
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The planning permission previously granted, and which is now quashed, was for a project of 741 units apartments for rent and retail spaces.
The status of ‘strategic housing development’ can be
secured for schemes with a cap of 4,500sqm given over to non-residential uses.
However, the now blocked scheme included commercial units
totaling 3,100sqm and when the 135 car parking spaces were added, that brought the
total non-residential area in the scheme to about 7,000sqm, far in excess of
what is permitted.
Dublin City Council shared the concerns of the Dublin
Cycling Campaign and now because the project has lost its ‘strategic housing
development’ status, planning permission for it must be sought via the council.
Mr Justice Denis McDonald said the developers had “clearly
took an informed decision to deliberately not include” an application for the
car park. Had they included the car parking spaces in their application, An Bord
Pleanála would not have been able to treat it as a to ‘strategic housing
development’.
“The developers wanted to have their cake and eat it
too,” said Kevin Baker, chairperson of Dublin Cycling Campaign.
“They wanted to build 135 new parking spaces to sweeten
their deal with CIÉ, but they didn’t want those same
new parking spaces assessed as part of the strategic housing development.
“Reducing excessive city centre car parking is a key
objective in our vision of Dublin as a vibrant, livable city - not one clogged
by congestion and emissions.”
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