Bartra submits new Bulloch Harbour redevelopment plan

One of the most contentious planning rows in south Dublin in recent years is set to be reignited as Richard Barrett’s Bartra Property (Dublin) Ltd lodges fresh plans with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for a mixed-use scheme at Bulloch Harbour near Dalkey.

Broadcaster Pat Kenny, a local resident, was one of the most vocal opponents of Bartra's previous plan for a mixed use scheme at Bulloch Harbour which attracted more than 250 local objections.

An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the scheme in June 2019 but the permission was quashed by the High Court on consent in September 2020 after the appeals board stated that it wouldn't be defending the High Court judicial review action brought against it by the Bulloch Harbour Preservation Association.

The High Court remitted the application back to the appeals board for further consideration. First lodged in December 2017, the application was due to be decided upon by the appeals board in the coming weeks.

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However, Bartra withdrew the planning application last Friday only to lodge fresh plans with the county council on Thursday.

Very similar

The new scheme for the former Western Marine Building at the harbour seeks the demolition and clearance of the existing single-storey warehouses and sheds and its replacement with a mixed-use marine commercial, leisure/community and residential based development.

The scheme, which is very similar to the application that was withdrawn, includes construction of a three-storey building, incorporating a cafe and one four-bedroom apartment on two levels.

The scheme also includes a single-storey relocated seafood sales outlet and four fisherman’s huts. It proposes a new public square fronting on to the harbour and three three-storey detached houses.

A new concrete support wall would be built along 34.8 metres of the existing development area boundary wall.

Asked to comment on the new plans, Mr Kenny said he had seen the planning notice “but I do not wish to comment until I have examined the application in detail”.

The Newstalk presenter was one of scores of locals to contribute financially to a fund organised by the Bulloch Harbour Preservation Association to bring the High Court judicial review of the original An Bord Pleanála approval. The association was awarded its costs in that judicial review.

‘Beggared belief’

Commenting previously on the original decision to grant permission for the Bulloch Harbour scheme, Mr Kenny said it “was crazy and beggared belief”.

“It was wrong from the very outset and defied common sense,” he said at the time. “The council had rejected the development, the board’s own inspector rejected the development. And yet, the board saw fit to disregard the advice of their own “boots-on-the-ground” ... and give the go-ahead for a development.”

Speaking about the new plan, a spokeswoman for the preservation association said: “We are concerned that this planning application will be lodged under the Development Plan 2016 - 2022 and not under the new Development Plan 2022 – 2028, which is due to be adopted by the council in the spring.”

A spokeswoman for Bartra on Friday declined to comment. A decision is due on the new application in early March.