The Department of Arts and Heritage has raised concerns over plans to build a six-block apartment complex of up to five storeys just outside Dalkey village in Co Dublin.
Almost 60 objections have been lodged with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council against the development by PegasusLife of a retirement complex of 57 apartments at Dalkey Manor on Barnhill Road.
The British developers propose to demolish Dalkey Manor, a six-bedroom 1970s house, and build six blocks in two terraces of four storeys, with a recessed fifth floor, on an almost one-hectare site a few minutes’ walk from the centre of the village.
In addition to apartments, staff facilities and guest accommodation, the complex includes a “wellness suite” with a sauna, steam room and salt-inhalation area, as well as a gym and nail bar, in what the applicants are calling a “later living development”.
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department has raised concerns about the effect on a nearby protected structure, the mid-18th century Dalkey Lodge.
The elevated site of the apartment blocks meant they were likely to be more imposing than if they were on flatter land, it said. It advised the council to seek an assessment of the visual impact of the development on the protected structure.
An Taisce also raised concerns about the impact on Dalkey Lodge. In addition, the heritage body said the development was of an “unacceptably high density” and represented overdevelopment of the site. There would be an adverse affect on existing residents because of additional noise, loss of privacy, and traffic, it said.
Similar objections were raised by a large number of local residents. Local Fianna Fáil councillor Cormac Devlin said the development was "out of character with the low rise residential nature and character of a heritage town like Dalkey".
Dalkey Community Council said there would be safety issues with "large numbers of elderly people attempting to access Dalkey", possibly using mobility scooters, via Barnhill Road.
