Apartment block next to Phoenix Park gets green light despite 'visual blight' claim

Planning permission has been granted for a four-storey apartment block adjacent to Phoenix Park despite claims by the OPW that it would be “a visual blight” on this historic park.

An Bord Pleanála has upheld the decision of Dublin City Council to approve the development of 11 apartments on Blackhorse Avenue which will be just metres from the park’s boundary wall.

The development had been strongly opposed by the OPW which manages the 700-hectare park.

It claimed the visual impact of the proposed apartment block on the historic setting and architectural character of the park had not been adequately assessed in the council’s decision to grant planning permission for the development.

The OPW also expressed concern that there were security implications with the development given its proximity to the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland.

“Foundations for a development of this scale will totally undermine the stability of this recorded monument and protected structure,” said the OPW’s chief park superintendent, Margaret Gormley.

She said the new building would “considerably limit public enjoyment of the park at this location due to being totally overlooked by residents of the apartment block.”

The scale of the development was also “totally out of keeping with the area”, Ms Gormley said.

She described Phoenix Park as “a historic landscape of international importance and one of the largest designed landscapes in any European city”, and said the park was under pressure from nearby developments which were causing “visual intrusion” and blocking out some of its sweeping views.

However, An Bord Pleanála ruled that the scheme, subject to conditions, would not seriously injure the amenities of the area

The developers, Andre McQuaid, Claudine Healy, and Edith Wynn, said they wanted to comprehensively redevelop the brownfield site to provide much-needed housing.

They claimed the current use of the site as a storage depot for timber pallets was “not economically viable”.

They also said Phoenix Park was a living organism, not a museum, and another large building in the area — the large Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate St — did not affect people’s enjoyment of the park.