The developer, Bartra, has been instructed to diminish the size and height of its controversial €30 million flats project on Old Navan Road in Dublin. A significant local pushback has been raised against the 56-unit, five-storey proposal, which is situated on the Brady’s Public House site. The opposition has resulted in 75 complaints being filed with Fingal County Council.
Barry O’Lone, a resident of Castleknock, is among the objectors. He declined a €100,000 proposal from Bartra last year to abandon a High Court case against a 210-bed co-living project on the same site, right opposite his family home. This co-living project was not carried forward and Bartra Property (Castleknock) Ltd filed plans for a flats development for the site in May.
In his opposition, Mr O’Lone recited his previous claim of Bartra offering him €100,000 to rescind his High Court case against the co-living development. To this date, Bartra has refrained from making any comments. The council has concealed the contents of the April 2023 letter from Bartra to Mr O’Lone, outlining the €100,000 offer, even though it was included in the objection.
Asserting his home’s adverse effects due to the close proximity, height, and style of the development at Brady’s pub, Mr O’Lone appealed to the council to reject the planning consent for the new 56-unit scheme.
The council has requested Bartra to reconsider their plan, suggesting a “reduction in scale and height is necessary.” The proposed building was criticised for lacking architectural interest and being visually intrusive to the surrounding landscape, impacting negatively the currently enjoyed visual neighbourhood benefits.
As per the council’s statement, the scheme doesn’t align with specific goals of the Fingal Development Plan and the building’s design needs to be modified to address the concerns raised. Despite this, an accompanying 33-page report indicates that, due to site zoning, the proposal’s nature and size are acceptable, but “a number of issues need to be addressed”.
The proposed plan submitted as part of a planning application indicates the destruction of the presently-standing pub and restaurant, in order to erect a structure ranging from three to five storeys. This development would accommodate 23 single-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom flats. The planning brief authored by Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, submitted along with the application, purports that the forthcoming construction aims to deliver a superlative residential ambiance.