Plans by the Denis O’Brien-controlled Beacon Hospital for a €75 million eight-storey extension have been stalled.
An Bord Pleanála has confirmed that an appeal has been lodged against the decision to grant planning permission for the 70-care-bed extension by the 70 owners and tenants of the Beacon One apartment complex.
The appeal by Beacon One Management CLG puts the expansion plan on hold for at least four months and with the appeals board dealing with a growing backlog of cases, the delay is likely to be longer.
Last month, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council granted planning permission for the hospital extension at Sandyford in Dublin.
The scheme also includes new A&E facilities, cancer care facilities and associated in-patient treatment rooms.
The planning application involves the substantive demolition of the eight-storey Beacon Hotel which the Beacon Hospital purchased late in 2020 from US billionaire, John Malone’s MHL Collection luxury hotel group.
The local authority found that the hospital extension does not detract from the amenities of the area and is consistent with the provisions of the current Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Development Plan.
Fresh submission
Beacon One Management CLOG lodged an initial objection last September and followed up with a fresh submission in January in response to further information lodged by the applicants.
In its most recent submission, consultants for the apartment owners, BPS Planning Consultants reiterated the apartment owners’ call to refuse planning permission.
Director at BPS Planning Consultants, Brendan Buck, said his clients believe the proposed A&E and hospital use is incompatible with the old hotel building.
Mr Buck contended that the scheme is not in accordance with the proper planning and development of the area and the issues raised in the council’s request for further information have not been addressed.
Outlining the need for the development, planning consultants for the Beacon stated the hospital has undergone significant exponential growth particularly in the last seven years due to the increase in demand across all specialities.
