Ronan’s tower plan fails to get off ground
DEVELOPER Johnny Ronan’s plan to erect Dublin’s tallest ever building has been turned down by An Bord Pleanála.
The appeals board has refused planning permission for the 88metre, 22-storey tower on George’s Quay at Tara Street – in spite of the fact that its own senior inspector, Gillian Kane, said the ‘beautiful’ building should be given the go-ahead.
Mr Ronan’s company yesterday said it was ‘bewildered’ and ‘disappointed’ by the decision.
A spokesman for the Ronan Group said Ms Kane ‘acknowledged that our scheme as proposed would have been a valuable addition to the architecture of Dublin’s city centre’. He continued: ‘Dublin needs beautiful yet purposeful buildings along good transport links. Being adjacent to both the existing Tara Street Dart Station and the planned Metro station and Dart Interchange, there is arguably no site in Dublin better served by transport links.
‘Naturally we are disappointed by the An Bord Pleanála decision but we are also bewildered that the board would reject a scheme designed to the very highest international standards, endorsed by its own inspector, and is fully compliant in terms of height with the recently extended George’s Quay Local Area Plan.’
The spokesman said the ‘Ronan Group and its advisors will consider the An Bord Pleanála decision carefully before deciding on its next course of action’.
An Bord Pleanála ruled that the tower would seriously detract from the setting and character of the Custom House, one of the city’s most important architectural set pieces.
It also found the building would have a significant and detrimental visual impact on a number of important views and vistas in the city, including from College Green and the Trinity College Campus, Henrietta Street, Kildare Street and Harcourt Street.
Its ruling upholds Dublin City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission last year. It comes despite the fact that, in her report, Ms Kane concluded that the tower ‘would integrate satisfactorily with the surrounding existing development and with the established character of the sensitive historic city centre’.
On the design of the tower, Ms Kane stated that it would be ‘beautiful’.
The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said yesterday it was disappointed by the decision not to give planning permission for the Ronan Group’s proposal.
The chamber had lodged a submission in support of the project during the planning process, and a spokesman said: ‘The Ronan Group’s proposal was visionary.
‘Dublin Chamber has long advocated the need the need for higher density building in Dublin. We hope that this isn’t the end for the project and look forward to seeing the huge potential of the site realised in the near future.’
‘Bewildered and disappointed’