An Taisce calls for investigation into Liberty Hall planning refusal

An Taisce has called for an independent regulator to be appointed to investigate the planning function of Dublin City Council.

Charles Stanley-Smith, communications officer and former chair of the National Trust, said An Bord Pleanála’s refusal for a 22-storey building to replace Siptu’s iconic Liberty Hall headquarters was on the same grounds as that of the Mater site proposal for the national children’s hospital earlier this year.

“This decision again raises the wider question as to why Dublin City Council is found to have once again breached its own development plan and national policy and the lack of an independent investigation thereof,” he said.

“An Taisce is now seeking an independent planning regulator to undertake this investigation and to extend it into the city council’s endorsement of the failed national children’s hospital and Liberty Hall plans.

“It is a waste of time and scarce resources for major applications to be processed through the planning system, if they are then overturned because they are found to be in breach of local and national policy.”

An Bord Pleanála ruled the scale and height of the proposed development would dominate Dublin’s skyline, be visually intrusive, seriously injure the city’s character, and detract from the nearby Custom House.

It also feared the development would set an undesirable precedent for similar builds in the vicinity.

Siptu said it was deeply disappointed by An Bord Pleanála’s decision. The plan had been approved by Dublin City Council with conditions.

Joe O’Flynn, general secretary, said the union, its architects, and professionaladvisers had put five years of hard work into the project, including a huge amount of consultation with council chiefs and key stakeholders.

The plans included demolishing Liberty Hall, the 17-storey headquarters of the trade union on Eden Quay which overlooks the River Liffey. It was Dublin’s first skyscraper when it was completed in 1965.

The proposed new eco-friendly building would have featured a theatre, a sky deck with panoramic views of the capital, and a heritage centre focusing on thecountry’s labour movement.

Siptu has claimed its construction would have also created up to 200 jobs.

However, the planning appeals board unanimously refused permission.

“It is considered that the site of Liberty Hall is of national historic and social significance and is located at a prominent and sensitive location fronting onto the River Liffey, within the historic city core of Dublin and adjacent to the Custom House, a protected structure of primary importance in the State,” it ruled.

“Notwithstanding the quality of the architectural design, it is considered that the scale and, in particular, the height of the development as proposed would be unacceptably dominant in the city, would be visually intrusive in the streetscape and riverscape and would seriously injure the visual amenities of the city and its skyline.”

It said the development would also “intrude on the O’Connell St and Grafton St architectural conservation areas, and other important vistas in the city”.