FOXROCK AREA Development Limited is appealing planning permission to redevelop Clonbur, a property owned by developer Michael McNamara in Foxrock, Dublin 18 into an apartment complex.

Located at the junction of Torquay Road and Westminster Road, McNamara is proposing knocking the house to make way for 11 apartments, an office, shop and 33 car-parking spaces. The proposal attracted considerable local opposition from residents of the leafy suburb.

Three parties have appealed the planning permission to An Bord Pleanála. Foxrock Area Development Ltd (FADL) says the development is premature pending the adoption of an urban design framework for Foxrock village and says the development is located on one junction of a crossroads that suffers from serious traffic congestion.

The group says it is concerned that the development has the potential to have a detrimental impact on the amenities and character of Foxrock because it has been assessed in the absence of an agreed urban design framework plan.

“It is considered that granting planning permission for any additional development which will put additional pressure on parking in the village, while not exploring the potential of important sites such as Clonbur to provide additional parking as a form of planning gain to the village, would be premature and short sighted,” says the appeal.

While the group says it’s not opposed in principle to the development and agrees “that in its architectural treatment and scale, it is a distinct improvement on previous proposals”, they say the proposal “is a commercial development geared to achieve the maximum return for its promoter, which gives nothing back to the local community”.