Developer Ronan’s €50m sports hotel hits stumbling block as planners advise against granting permission
Firm ‘confident’ that Wicklow scheme will get the green light, despite local objections to project scale, writes Gordon Deegan
DEVELOPER Johnny Ronan is facing his first major hurdle on the comeback trail after planners recommended that his €50m hotel in Co Wicklow be refused permission.
Last year, Ronan — through his RGRE J& R Valery — lodged plans for a 141-bedroom hotel at St Valery’s, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
The hotel is being marketed towards sports and sports tourism with a particular emphasis on cycling and it consists of a four-storey over-basement hotel including a restaurant, bar and cafe area.
A previous hotel plan was refused planning on the site.
Architects, Henry J Lyons state that the proposal has been reimagined to ensure closer consistency with the Local Area Plan and designed to directly to respond to the reasons for refusal.
The architects say it would be of significant potential economic benefit to the immediate area, offering an excellent base for tourism.
Lyons also said the bulk and massing of the proposal has been significantly reduced and has been carefully designed to assuage any concerns of the Council.
If it secures planning permission, the hotel would employ more than 120 people.
The proposal is being financially backed by Colony Capital and the site, which is close to the N11, is zoned for hotel and tourist-related development.
However, the plan has faced opposition from local residents.
WB and MM Somerville told Wicklow Co Council that they are objecting to the plan having regard to the scale size and height of the hotel.
In a separate objection, Eric and Cara Culliton state that the development “would ruin our existing level of privacy as we will be overlooked and destroy our scenic views forever”.
However, traders from Enniskerry have lodged a submission in support of the proposal stating that it will be a hugely beneficial addition to the community.
They said that the target market of the hotel for sports tourism will serve to showcase the beauty of the area.
The planners have taken on board the Somervilles’ objections to recommend that planning be refused on a number of grounds.
These include that the proposal would be premature pending Transport Infrastructure Ireland — formerly the National Roads Authority (NRA) — determining new road layout for the area.
The planner in the case also recommended refusal due to its scale and bulk impacting on the views from the N11 to St Valery’s and would be detrimental to the visual amenities of the area.
The report states that the proposal would be contrary to the proper planning and sustained development of the area
In order to avoid a refusal, Ronan’s firm has obtained from Wicklow Co Council a six-month extension in the application to late July of this year
A spokesman for RGRE J& R Valery said yesterday that the firm is confident that it can overcome the concerns of the planners and secure permission.
Last October, Ronan recorded his most high-profile permission since exiting Nama after securing planning permission for a €200m office block at Ballsbridge in Dublin.
The development has the capacity to accommodate 2,000 staff, as the Ronan Group aims to take advantage of the Brexit fallout.
RGRE has already taken out adverts in the UK press and made presentations to the IDA to make the agency aware of the stock it will have coming on-stream in the coming years.
The group hopes to complete the Ballsbridge development by mid-2019
Planning permission for the development was granted in spite of six appeals.