New plan for Grove House site

Silkmore Developments has come back with another planning application for Grove House on Hainault Road in Foxrock, Dublin 18 - but this time the proposal has been radically scaled down in size.

In November, An Bord Pleanála ruled against a residential development on the three-acre site, for 46 apartments, a terrace of eight townhouses and a gate-lodge on stilts.

This time around the developer is looking to change the layout of Grove House and demolish an existing extension.

It plans to build a new two-storey plus dormer level extension to provide eight apartments.

It is also looking to provide 17 surface car-parking spaces and nine two-storey plus dormer level five-bedroom detached dwellings, each with two surface car-parking spaces. The proposal is for a new vehicular access off Hainault Road.

The last proposal for 46 apartments that was turned down by An Bord Pleanála was controversial locally because several substantial houses on grounds in the area have been redeveloped as high density schemes at the top end of the market.

The planning board refused Silkmore Developments permission to knock the house and build the apartments - which also included a fitness centre, meeting rooms and 94 car-parking spaces.

It said the site is not within the specified distances to public transport corridors and is in conflict with residential density guidelines. Another reason given was the scale and bulk and proximity to boundaries of adjoining properties which "fails to respect the character of the neighbourhood, would injure amenities in the area and depreciate property values".

Silkmore, whose directors are Maurice and Theresa Leahy, bought the three-storey nine-bedroom Crampton-built house on a three-acre site in 2001 for €6.3 million.

Brighton Road developer Sean Dunne built 43 units in the grounds of Hollybrook - a three-acre property he bought at the height of the property boom for €10.54 million - but only after a number of planning attempts.