Fair City on the move despite row

CARRIGSTOWN is on the move after An Bord Pleanála gave the green light to RTÉ yesterday to relocate its Fair City set to its Donnybrook campus.

The appeals board has given the relocation the go-ahead in spite of opposition from a group of D4 residents living beside the RTÉ site.

The broadcaster is proceeding with the move of the set as part of its decision to sell 8.64 acres of land for €107.5million to Cairn Homes.

The Fair City lott comprises of 11 separate sets, and the planning application provides for a new home for McCoy’s pub, the Hungry Pig, the Dolphin Pod, the Community Centre, the Helping Hand charity shop and the other locations of the hit soap.

Peter and Paula Ledbetter and Brian and Elizabeth McDermott, all of Nutley Road, Donnybrook, have lodged appeals. The Ledbetters and McDermotts retained Colin McGill of McGill Planning to oppose the plan.

Mr McGill said that he was opposing the proposed move because of the proximity of the set to existing homes of Nutley Road and the visual impact of the development. He added: ‘The noise levels together with proposed hours of operation will create unacceptable impacts on existing residential amenities.’

Paul Caprani, the board inspector who recommended the planning permission, said that ‘the new location of the Fair City set will have negligible impact on residents.’