A planned 32-unit luxury apartment scheme on the grounds of Montebello House in Killiney will have no impact on the residential amenity of the area, according to a planning appeal on behalf of the developer.
A first-party appeal has been lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) on behalf of Covelo Developments Ltd against last month’s decision by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council to refuse planning permission for the scheme.
The application is opposed by local resident Ali Hewson and other Killiney residents.
The scheme comprises one three-storey apartment block with 11 one-bedroom apartments, eight two-bed, three-person units; 10 two-bed, four-person apartments and three three-bed units on lands at Montebello House, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney.
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Kevin Hughes, a planning consultant for Covelo, said the scheme would have no impact on residential amenity for the area with the proposed block appropriately orientated and positioned to have an almost imperceptible impact on the public realm, while also providing much-needed high-quality residential accommodation within Killiney.
The appeal states that the scheme introduces one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, thus enhancing the variety of residential accommodation in the area and offering existing residents a downsizing option.
The appeal is the second time that a Covelo scheme for the site has come before the planning commission. Last year, it refused permission for four two-storey four-bedroom, flat-roofed houses on the same site as the scheme “would represent underdevelopment”.
Hughes states that the new refusal based on excessive density is inappropriate given the recent planning history of the site, where the applicant was previously advised no uplift in residential density would be permitted at pre-planning stage before being refused based on insufficiently low density.
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He said the scheme was in part refused due to an objective in the development plan, which limits the increase in the number of buildings allowed at this location except in limited circumstances.
Hughes said the council refusal was inconsistent with the assessment of the previous application and the planning authority “has failed to duly consider the manner in which the scheme has been designed with regard for the site’s heritage constraints”.
A decision is due in November.
