The Office of Public Works (OPW) is objecting to plans for a 14-storey, mixed-use scheme on Dublin’s Liffey quays as it could lead to the erosion of the Custom House as a focal point in the cityscape.
The OPW is the State agency charged with the care and management of the James Gandon-designed Custom House and in an objection to the Ventaway Ltd scheme planned for the former City Arts Centre on City Quay, the OPW said the construction of a building at this scale had “the potential to adversely impact the historic and architectural character of the Custom House”. Ventaway is headed by developer David Kennan and Winthrop engineering group founder Barry English
In the six-page submission, OPW assistant secretary general Rosemary Collier said the OPW had concerns in relation to the quantum of development in a location considered “to be very historically sensitive”.
Ms Collier said it was the opinion of the OPW that “the scale and bulk massing of the development would overshadow the historically significant viewpoint of the Custom House along the river Liffey in a negative manner”.
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The OPW was not opposed in principle to the development of the Ventaway site, which had been underutilised for a number of years, she said.
Ibec, the country’s largest industry lobby group, has also weighed in on the planning issue, stating that approval should be granted for the scheme.
Ibec’s head of infrastructure and environmental sustainability Aidan Sweeney told Dublin City Council that the Ventaway proposal “offers an effective revitalisation of a prime location in the city centre and is exactly the sort of project Dublin requires going forward”.
Mr Sweeney said the site had “been subject to the blight of dereliction for over 20 years”.
He said the “site must not remain idle or sterile and should be put back into productive use”.
The planned scheme “will breathe new life into the quay front and complement the existing development cluster in the locality”, he said.
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