A Dublin local authority has granted planning permission for a 41-unit apartment scheme for the Frascati Centre in Blackrock, despite local opposition.
Last August, IMRF II Frascati Ltd Partnership lodged plans for the 41 apartments as part of Phase Two of the overall development plan for the Frascati Centre on Frascati Road in south Dublin.
The same company has lodged separate plans for another 98 apartments at the Frascati site, which is also being opposed by locals. A decision is due on that proposal later in the year.
The 41-unit scheme is comprised of 15 studios, 18 one-bed units and eight two-bed units in a U-shaped residential block, arranged around a central communal courtyard space.
In giving the 41-unit scheme approval, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has determined that the proposal “would not significantly detract from the amenities of the area”.
The council said the scheme “is consistent with the provisions of the current Development Plan”.
It granted planning permission after the applicant lodged revised plans and specifications.
In its objection to the scheme however, the Frascati Park Residents’ Association said the bulk, scale and proximity to residences will damage residential amenity and house valuations.
The association argued that the scheme “will mean a life-changing loss of privacy for residences in Frascati Park”.
For the most severely affected residents, the development “is a simple transfer of wealth and amenity from their primary residential dwelling to the developer”, it said.
Haphazard construction scheme
In a separate submission, the Lisalea Owners Management Company Ltd said that the applicant is aware of the impact of a haphazard construction programme on a neighbour over a period of almost five years "and the consequential disruption, inconvenience and degrading of a pristine residential development".
“Regrettably, the current proposal will disimprove the situation further for the residents,” the submissions said.
Third parties have the option of appealing the grant of permission to An Bord Pleanála.
Separately, An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for fast-track plans from Cairn Homes for 183 residential units in Kilkenny city.
In the scheme, Cairn Homes is to build 20 four-bedroom homes, 67 three-bed homes and five duplex blocks containing 32 two-bedroom units and 32 three-bedroom units 2km from Kilkenny city.
The scheme also includes a block containing 17 one-bedroom units and 15 two-bedroom units at a site in the townland of Wetland, Callan Road, Breagagh Valley, Kilkenny.
