Councillors welcome €140m plan for baths site

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown councillors have welcomed plans for a €140 million redevelopment of the local coastline, to include shops, apartments, leisure facilities, a new maritime garden and a 10-storey "crystal tower".

However, campaigners who opposed earlier plans to develop the old DúLaoghaire baths site have described the newly unveiled plans as a "shameful attempt to privatise the public seafront". The Save Our Seafront group, which has called an emergency meeting tonight, yesterday promised that "big protests will certainly follow".

The plan, as revealed in yesterday's Irish Times, includes 180 apartments, a €30 million "waterworld" facility and a continuous promenade from Dún Laoghaire to the Forty Foot on 5.5 acres of reclaimed land.

Niamh Breathnach, cathaoirleach of the council, described the proposed scheme as a "once in a lifetime opportunity to give Dún Laoghaire what it deserves". "This plan has the potential to revitalise Dún Laoghaire and it meets everyone's wish to replace the current derelict site with top quality recreational facilities that will be open to all."

Cllr Kealin Ireland, of the Green Party, gave the proposal a broad welcome but said that further information would be needed before councillors made up their minds. "The eight-storey building is a bit bulky but I welcome the amount of space given over to amenities."

The plans, which were drawn up by the council's architects, have been presented to councillors who will consider them over the coming weeks. Any scheme would need to obtain planning permission, a process that could take some time. The council will also have to seek a commercial partner for the venture.

According to Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews, the plan will ensure Dubliners have access to top of the range sport and leisure facilities along Dublin Bay. "For two decades the site of the baths has been lying idle. This new plan ...will ensure that once again the site becomes a focus for families from across Dublin."

However, Richard Boyd-Barrett, convenor of the Save Our Seafront group, described the plan as "a huge, exclusive, privately-owned barrier between the coast road and the sea that will destroy a part of the seafront as a natural amenity". He said the plans had been drawn up "without consulting the public, despite previous promises."

Previous plans to build either a 104 bedroom hotel or a 19-storey office block on the site were shelved after protests almost two years ago, he pointed out.

"Now, a year and a half later, at a closed meeting, they try to present councillors with a fait accompli and hope to convince them to sell it to the public as the only option. This is typical of the undemocratic way the council operates and the contempt with which it treats the public on planning and development matters."

The proposed scheme includes an indoor swimming/leisure complex with 25 metre pool and seaweed baths, an indoor wave pool with "sandy beach", water slides, sauna and keep-fit facilities, coffee bars and restaurants.

The coastal walking route from Sandycove to the East Pier will include three sea water bathing points.