Kenny says plan to build nursing home ‘amounts to vandalism’

BROADCASTER Pat Kenny has claimed that plans to put a five-storey building in what he calls “a peaceful, quiet, sylvan setting surrounded by nature” beside his Dalkey home “amounts to vandalism”.

The claim is contained in a 15-page objection running to over 5,000 words lodged by Newstalk presenter Kenny and his wife Kathy against plans by Bartra Capital to construct the 104-bedroom nursing home on a site beside the Kenny home in Dalkey, Co Dublin.

The Kenny submission is one of 37 lodged by locals with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council concerning the planned scheme, with Dalkey Community Council adding its weight behind the strong local opposition to the Bartra plan.

In their objection, the Kennys wrote: “As in the pantomime, we suggest that the developers are attempting to stuff an ‘Ugly Sister’s foot’ into Cinderella’s delicate slipper.”

The Kennys are also signatories to a separate group objection drafted by planning consultant Hendrik W van der Kamp. Also, together with eight other households in the area, the Kennys have commissioned a consultant ecologist, Billy Flynn of Flynn Furney Environmental Consultants, to make a separate submission on the residents’ behalf on the impact that the planned nursing home will have on badgers in the area.

In their own objection, the Kennys state: “Currently the residents enjoy a peaceful, quiet, sylvan setting, surrounded by nature.”

They say that the proposed development site for the nursing home is located in an old quarry which “has created an oasis and a safe habitat for both humans and the creatures of the natural world”.

They add: “Placing a fivestorey building in this setting amounts to vandalism.”

On behalf of Dalkey Community Council, Dr Susan McDonnell has requested that planning permission be refused “in view of our widespread concerns”.

In the documents lodged on behalf of Bartra by Thornton O’Connor Town Planning, Patricia Thornton has stated that there is no development in the southern portion of the site and this significantly reduces the impact of the property on the surrounding dwellings at the southern end of the site. Ms Thornton further stated that the nursing home scheme has been sensitively designed to minimise the potential impact on surrounding properties.

Bartra Capital declined to comment on the submissions objecting to the scheme. A decision is due next month.