Planners lay some good news at RTE’s door

THERE was some reason to celebrate in Montrose last week as RTE was given the goahead for a major new entrance on Stillorgan Road, unlocking its plan to sell 10 acres of its Donnybrook site for redevelopment.

It looked like the proposal — a financial lifeline for RTE — could be the basis for a clash between the broadcaster and the National Transport Authority, which objected to the disruption to traffic that would follow.

However, planners have just given the site the all-clear for a new plaza off Stillorgan Road which RTE sees as the cornerstone of a redrawn site. RTE’s buildings will be clustered on one part of the site, clearing the way for up to 500 homes on the rest of the land.

Over the past number of weeks, RTE submitted additional new information about its master plan to planners, which has satisfied concerns.

It reveals a proposal to have the land ready for transfer by the end of 2017 and three options for development: residential, mixed use and commercial.

Dublin City Council has accepted that for security reasons, RTE can’t have thousands of new residents traipsing through its complex. So one victory for the organisation. But other battles await. Surprisingly, there were no objections to the new entrance from the well-heeled locals, many of whom are understood to be lining up objections to the very significant development plans for one of the city’s most desirable addresses. It may fall to a developer to take on the residents, rather than RTE, depending on how the sale is structured.

The sale of the land may raise over €50m, which will be invested in capital requirements such as the next generation of technology known as 4k.

While the land will bring in a muchneeded windfall, tussles over the restructuring of the licence fee will remain amid falling revenues.

The champagne will have to stay on ice a little longer.