Developers Greg Kavanagh and Pat Crean have withdrawn a controversial planning application to build more than 350 houses and apartments on playing fields used by "hundreds" of children in north Dublin every week.
Crekav Landbank Developments, part of the duo's New Generation Homes group, sought permission from Dublin City Council to build 86 houses and 270 apartments on playing fields surrounding St Paul's College secondary school, next to St Anne's Park in Raheny, Dublin.
New Generation confirmed that it has withdrawn the application but said that it intended to submit a new one next year. The group gave no reason for the move.
More than 200 locals and organisations objected to the plan on the grounds that the loss of playing fields would damage amenities in the area. GAA, soccer and rugby clubs use the pitches and residents say that hundreds of children play there regularly.
All-weather pitch
As part of its application, Crekav pledged to provide a new all-weather pitch, but opposition groups say that this will not be enough. Ronan McCoy of Meadow Residents’ Association argued in a submission to the council that the development would take up five playing fields, but the company was only offering one in return.
Georgina Moore of I Love St Anne's, a group campaigning against the plans, argued that all three codes could not use the proposed new pitch together. "When the land is in use at the weekend, every pitch on these 15 acres is in use simultaneously," she said.
Scepticism
Objectors greeted news that New Generation has dropped its application with scepticism. They claim the company believes the council will refuse the current application and is simply trying to get around this.
Deirdre Tobin, chairwoman of Clontarf Residents' Association, one of the groups objecting to the development, pointed out that the developers would have an advantage if they re-apply for planning permission without first being refused by the council.
She added that her organisation is likely to object to any new application. “We may have won this battle, but we still haven’t won the war,” Ms Tobin said.
Ms Moore noted that this would be the third time that New Generation has been allowed to view all the objections and change the application. “They first had to withdraw their application and then there was a request for further information,” she said.
