Park owner to challenge order

THE owner of a park in south Dublin is to mount a Supreme Court challenge to prevent Dublin City Council from compulsorily acquiring the site.

Athlone businessman Noel O’Gara said yesterday he was preparing an appeal against planning legislation that is preventing him from implementing his controversial plans to convert Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh into a car park.

Mr O’Gara said the local authority has only offered him €100,000 for the two-acre park, which he values in excess of €175m, despite acquiring the property for €11,000 in 2005.

The offer was made after An Bord Pleanála granted the council permission to go ahead with the compulsory purchase of Dartmouth Square, which has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Mr O’Gara and local residents.

Dublin City Council said it intends to place preservation orders on trees located within Dartmouth Square as part of wider plans to designate the park and surrounding houses as an architectural conservation area.

Such orders are viewed as another attempt to put further pressure on Mr O’Gara to reach an agreement with the council on the amount of compensation he is to receive in return for the compulsory purchase order.