An exclusive Dalkey home once dubbed in the High Court the “unluckiest” house in Ireland has won planning permission for an outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi.
An Coimisiún Pleanála has given the go-ahead to Sorrento HGT UC for a new 60 sq m outdoor swimming pool and an 11 sq m Jacuzzi area on a new 106 sq metre terrace for Sorrento House at No 1 Sorrento Terrace overlooking Killiney Bay.
The decision overturns a planning refusal by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council in May. The planning application also includes a replacement studio in the extensive garden of the luxury home.
The owner or owners of the home paid €10.65 million for the property in 2021.
RM Block
At the High Court in 2015, barrister Rossa Fanning SC – now the Government’s Attorney General – described Number 1 Sorrento Terrace as “the unluckiest house in Ireland” as it had been involved in eight legal cases in a decade.
The now sanctioned pool will be 12 metres long and five metres wide, with a depth of 1.85 metres.
In its decision, An Coimisiún Pleanála ruled that, given the nature, scale and design of the proposed development, it would not adversely impact on the visual or residential amenities of the area and would not adversely impact on the ecology of the receiving environment.
Planning consultants Brock McClure for the applicant said “our client is extremely disappointed with the decision by the council to refuse permission”.
The council refused planning permission as ancillary developments, such as the outdoor swimming pool and garden studio, are not permissible on open space grounds at such a protected structure, and would materially contravene the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan.
In the 81-page appeal, Brock McClure said there were “no possible grounds on which this reason for refusal can hold and it should be dismissed outright”.
In a point inadvertently highlighting the exclusive nature of the neighbourhood, Brock McClure noted there were “numerous precedents existing within the Dalkey area where planning permission has been granted for the development of swimming pools on comparable sites”.
