Ashling won’t give up on extension vision

GALWAY hoteliers Kevin, Frank and Mary Flannery have not given up hope on their plans to construct a 10-storey ‘aparthotel’ in an extension to the Ashling Hotel in Dublin.

The plan by the Flannerys’ Foxfield Inns Ltd, which includes 31 executive self-contained suites, was last month turned down by Dublin City Council.

However, the Flannerys have now appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanála, stating that it took them five years during a difficult financial period to assemble the various properties to allow the plans to be lodged.

The Ashling Hotel enjoys a buoyant business from its proximity to Heuston Station and the new apart-hotel was to have a new separate entrance to the Ashling.

However, the plan was turned down after city council planners concluded that the proposal does not justify the demolition of the buildings on the site, all of which are of streetscape value and which include No 6 Parkgate Street, which appears in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.

In the appeal, consultants for the hotel firm state that the hotel is a growing business which is short of rooms to meet current demands. The appeal stresses that what is proposed “is not a speculative development as our client has sourced the finances to start the project immediately once a favourable decisions is forthcoming”.

The appeal adds: “Our client must be seen as a major investor in the area, and has shown their commitment to its regeneration by their continued investment in its future.”

The appeal also states the development is in full compliance with the council’s policies for apart-hotels and the area that is in need of regeneration. A decision is due in October.